


Code Lyoko: The Other Angel

by UniqueDancer73



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Code Lyoko - Freeform, F/M, Fanfiction, Follows the episodes, IDK WHAT TO PUT, Love Triangles, Multi, OC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-07-18 18:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 25,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7326076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniqueDancer73/pseuds/UniqueDancer73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna Ender is the new girl at Kadic Academy. She joins the Lyoko group but will her past reveal her true identity? Go through Anna's journey of love, loss, hate, friendship, and revelation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Character Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> So I originally wrote this on Quotev so I will include all chapters written, that includes my crappy character introduction, I started writing this when I was 14 so bear with me here. I hope you enjoy it, please feel free to leave comments and Kudos are always welcome!

Name: Anna Enders

Age: 13

Gender: Female

Personality: Tomboy, kind, intelligent, fun-loving , and adventurous

Appearance: Long red hair, gray eyes, moderate height and build,

Clothes: Green t-shirt, blue shorts, gray converse, red and green bracelets

Favorite Colors: Red,green,and purple

Favorite Animal:Red Tail Panda

Bio.: Anna moved to France from the UK so she could go to the best school her parents could afford. She loves to read, play sports, and dance. She will stand up for what she believes in and don't mess with her friends, you will regret it.


	2. Chapter 1: The New Girl

I walked to my dorm room with Mr. Delmas, my new principal, and my new gym teacher, Jim. "And this will be your home for the rest of the school year Ms. Enders." Mr. Delmas said opening the door to an unfurnished room. The room contained a sheet less bed, a bare desk, a small wardrobe, and a few empty shelves to hold some of my things. I set my suitcase on the floor next to the bed and Jim set a the two boxes which contained my belongings on the bed. "Breakfast is from 7 am and dinner is at 7 pm. It is against the rules to be in your room between 8 am and 4:30 pm. Your curfew is at 9 pm. If you are caught out after curfew you will be sent to bed and you will be sent to the principles office in the morning." Jim said. "You will begin classes tomorrow. Here is your schedule."Mr. Delmas handed me a sheet of paper with my classes on it. I looked it over. "We hope that you will find Kadic to your liking and that you will enjoy your time here." Mr. Delmas and Jim both left the room closing the door behind themselves. I folded the paper and set it in my pocket. I started to unpack my things. After everything was placed where I wanted it I checked the time, 8:27. 'Maybe I should go and explore the campus, get used to my new home. I exited my room and walked down the stairs to the main entrance to the dormitory. I opened the door and walked outside. The night air was cool and relaxing. I walked around for a while taking note of where everything was. I decided to take a walk through the nearby forest. I climbed up a tree and rested there. I sat listening to the sounds of the night. I slowly fell asleep paying no attention to anything but sleep. I woke up with a start. I pulled out my mobile and checked the time, 9;50! I had been asleep for over an hour! I jumped out of the tree and looked around. I could hear voices in the distance. Afraid, I hid behind the tree and listened. "Great job you guys. Ya know I really think that I'm really getting closer to-" "Yeah yeah yeah, materializing Aelita, shutting down the super computer, blah blah blah!" "Cut it out Odd-Hey! Odd Give it back!" The voices became closer. I started to sneak away from the tree and suddenly someone ran into me and knocked me to the ground. "Odd! hey...uh..." The voice trailed off. The guy the ran into me got off and helped me up. "Sorry about that." The guy had blond spiky hair with a bit of purple in the middle. He was a little shorter than me and scrawny. "I'm Odd. Odd Della-Robia." He picked up a computer case from the ground. He handed it to the other guy, "This is Jeremie." "Jeremie Belpois. Nice to meet you." Jeremie had blonde hair and thick glasses. Two more figures appeared from behind the shrubbery. "Oh and these two are Ulrich and Yumi." He motioned toward a boy with brown hair who was slightly taller than me and a black-haired girl who was at least 2 inches taller than me. Judging from the look Jeremie gave Ulrich something must be going on between the two. Ulrich and Yumi blushed a deep crimson and looked away. Ulrich stood with Odd and Yumi with Jeremie. I decided to break the silence and introduce myself, "I'm Anna Enders. I just transferred here from the UK." Ulrich's eyes seemed to light up when is said the UK. I brushed it off. We all walked back to campus talking about our classes and what not. Yumi stopped and started walking towards the gate, "Ciao guys, Oh and nice meeting you Anna!" "Why is she going that way? Won't she get in trouble?" I asked confused. "She lives here, close to the school, she's not a boarder student." Jeremie clarified. When we got to the dorms we said goodnight then went our ways. I snuck into my room quietly and headed to bed. 'Well At least I made some new friends, and we have a few classes together: Ms. Hertz physics class, Gym, and history, and Yumi and I have english together.' I yawned and started to fall asleep thinking of my new friends.


	3. Chapter 2: Awkward Encounter

I walked out of my dorm room dressed and ready for breakfast. "Hurry it up in there Sissy! Other people need to take showers too!" I small girl with two red pigtails said. A girl emerged from the bathroom steam flowing out from behind her. The girl had straight black hair, a pink robe, and pink bunny slippers. I let out a laugh when I saw her choice of foot wear. She looked at me, "Something funny to you?" She asked bitterly. "Yeah, nice shoes. " She looked down at her feet and red streaked across her face. "You better watch it newbie." She said stomping away. 'Newbie?' I shook my head and laughed again. I headed down to the cafeteria for a well deserved breakfast. After I got my food I looked for a place to sit. The first person, or persons hair, I saw was Odd. I walked over to their table. Ulrich and Odd looked up at me, "Hey Anna!" Odd said, he had syrup on his face from his breakfast. I laughed, "Hi guys. May I sit with you?" "Sure." Ulrich said pulling out the seat next to him. I smiled and sat down. "So Anna," Jeremie said sitting next to Odd "How do you like Kadic Academy so far?" "It's nice and all but I don't like being surrounded by 'girly girls' and 'divas' all the time." I said picking at the sausage and eggs on my plate. "I know how you feel." Yumi said sitting next to me. Odd looked at me then at my plate, I slid the plate over to him and he dug in. "Ah, well if it isn't my favorite group of troublemakers! Ishiyama,Stern,Belpois, and Della-Robia. I see you've inducted into your group. Well try to stay out of trouble you five." Jim said passing by our table. Each of us looked at one another confused by what he meant by 'troublemakers'. ~After School~ I walked into the gym. It was empty. I set down my bag and pulled out my pointe shoes I slipped them on over my pink tights. I adjusted my black leotard and pink tights. I started the music on my portable radio and did my warm-up routine. When I was warmed up I put on another song and practiced my dance. I did each move with precision and dedication. I completed the dance with few imperfections that needed to be worked out. The music ended, I bowed and I heard clapping. I looked over towards the door, Jim and Ulrich were clapping. I blushed a deep crimson and walked over. "I'm sorry. I thought I could practice in here. I'll go now." I said bowing my head. Jim laughed, I looked up, "It's fine. Pencak Silat practice doesn't begin until 8:00. It's only 7:30. You had every right to use the open space to practice. Say, did you come up with that routing yourself?" I nodded. I noticed Ulrich was still smiling at me. "Ah, I remember when I was a professional dancer. I was good too." "You were a professional dancer." Ulrich and I asked in unison. "Well uhm-yeah, but I'd rather not talk about it. Anyways, I'll be right back I have to go get the mats from the field." Jim left the gym leaving Ulrich and I standing there awkwardly. "You're really good Anna. Can I see it again? From the beginning I mean. If-if you want to I mean..." He trailed off. I smiled, "Sure." I walked to the middle of the gym and started the music. I redid the dance not missing a beat, I finished and bowed to Ulrich. He clapped again smiling brightly at me. I packed up my things replaced my pointe shoes for my regular shoes and headed towards the door. "Bye Ulrich see y-" I tripped over one of the mats Jim had brought in. I fell forwards and Ulrich caught me. He helped me back up,we both were blushing a deep crimson. "Bye." I almost whispered. "Bye..." He said equally as quite. I hurried to my dorm room, my heart racing. I put on my red robe with green and purple Polk-a-dots on it and headed to the showers. It was 8:45 so it was void of anyone else. I took a hot shower and thought about what had occurred no more than 20 minutes ago. I finished my shower and headed to my room, I dressed in my pajamas: a red nightgown with red socks, and lay in my bed thinking about what had happened. I brushed it off as a friendly gesture and attempted to lull myself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3: The Secret

A/N: This chapter takes place two months after Anna came to Kadic and after school. I sat in a tree in the forest waiting for the others. We all had gotten to know one another quite well and they decided that we should meet in the forest to talk about something important. "Hey Anna!" Odd yelled waving like a maniac, then tripping over a root and landing on his face into the dirt. I jumped out of the tree laughing. I helped him up and saw the others approach. I smiled, "about time you guys got here! I've waited forever! So what's up?" They all looked at one another, "Anna can you keep a secret?" Jeremie asked seriously. "Of course." I replied changing to a more serious tone. The group led me a small clearing. Everyone looked around, then Ulrich lifted the lid to a man-hole open. I watched confused yet intrigued. They lead me through the sewers and to what appeared to be a seemingly abandoned factory. We entered an elevator and Jeremie typed in a code, the door closed and we descended to the lower level of the building. The doors opened and revealed a computer monitor and chair. Jeremie sat in the chair and the monitor came to life. "Anna we want you to join our group. Our group of Lyoko warriors." He smiled changing the atmosphere of the room from serious to happy. The others were looking a me expectantly. "What 's Lyoko?" I asked. "A virtual world here our mortal enemy lives." Odd said sounding like some sort of super hero."It's also my home." sad an angelic voice. We all turned towards the monitor. "Wow! Who is that?!" I asked running up to the screen. "I'm Aelita. I live on Lyoko." She explained. "Were trying to find a way to materialize Aelita into the real world so we can shut down the super calculator and stop X.A.N.A before he becomes too powerful and destroys the world." Jeremie explained. "Oh...This all sounds really amazing but how do we do it? How do we get to Lyoko?" "Follow us." Yumi and Ulrich grabbed my arms and led me to the elevator followed by Odd. They pushed the button and we descended to the next level the factory. The doors opened and we walked into a room with three pod looking things. "Anna. If you really want to be part of our group get into one of the pods. I have already created a character card for you so we don't have to wait for one. I stepped into the pod closest to me, "Ulrich and Yumi go with her." "Hey! What about me Einstein?!" Odd said hurt showing in his voice. "Go after them Odd." He gave me a thumbs up and the pod closed. "Transfer Anna, transfer Ulrich, transfer Yumi." Jeremies voice could be heard throughout the room. "Scanner Anna, scanner Ulrich, scanner Yumi. Virtualization." There was a blast of air then I felt weightless. I was hanging in the air and then dropped. I landed on my butt followed by Ulrich then by Yumi. "Odd will join you in a second." Jeremie said. Aelita helped me up and hugged me, "It's so nice to meet you Anna." She released me smiling. Ulrich stood on my left wearing a yellow and orange samurai outfit and Yumi stood on my left wearing a traditional geisha costume. "Wow you guys look incredible." Odd suddenly appeared behind Ulrich. "Odd you look like-" "A giant purple cat. I know pretty cool huh?" I shook my head then realized I was also in a different outfit: a red ninja-like outfit with a facemask and everything! "So Anna what kind of weapons and powers do you have?" Yumi asked showing off her fan. I pulled a scythe from the holder on my back, "As far as weapons go I have a really cool scythe. But powers, I don't know." I put the scythe away. "Trying running!" Ulrich sad excited. I ran towards a nearby cluster of trees then back but nothing happened. I shrugged. "Uh-oh Red alert guys X.A.N.A has spotted you. There are monsters heading your way. The activated tower is west from your current position." I followed the others to the tower thing. We came across a block looking thing that Odd called a 'Blok' a gross looking bug thing that Yumi called a 'Kankerlot' and a metal sphere thing called a 'Mega-Tank'. I used my scythe to kill several Bloks and Kankerlots. Ulrich had told me to stay away from the Mega-Tank. I felt a sharp pain in my leg and realized I'd been shot by a monster. "Anna 80 life points left." Jeremie updated me. Yumi and I battled the oncoming Kankerlots and Bloks while Odd and Ulrich dealt with the Mega-Tank. I looked over at Yumi and saw her get turned into pixels. I freaked. "Yum?!" I screamed. "It's okay Anna she's fine she's back at the factory. Keep going." Jeremie said. I fought off the last Blok and checked on Odd and Ulrich. Odd got the same thing as Yumi then Ulrich killed the monster. Aelita ran to the tower. Suddenly another wave of Kankerlots showed up, Ulrich and I fought them off until Jeremie yelled, "The Scyphozoa!" Ulrich got shot and devirtualized leaving me to save Aelita. A jellyfish-like creäture stood in front of her tentacle almost around her. I suddenly appeared next to Aelita. I Slashed the symbol on its head and killed it. Aelita smiled t me and ran to the tower. "I smiled to myself then felt a pain in my chest and leg, a Kankerlot had shot me. I fell to the ground and passed out. I woke up in the pod it opened revealing my friends smiling faces. I slowly stood up and they steadied me then pulled me into a group hug. "Welcome to our group Anna." They all cheered in delight.


	5. Lyoko Character Introduction

Name: Anna Enders

Age:13

Gender: Female

Weapon: Scythe

Powers/Abilities: Teleportation and invisibility

Appearance: Hair in bun, mask over mouth and forehead, gray eyes.

Clothes: Red ninja outfit.


	6. Chapter 4: A New Perspective

~A week later~

Trapped. I was trapped in a corner monsters were swarming me. I tried to shield myself but I kept taking damage, even after I was sure that I had lost more than a hundred life points they continued to attack. The pain increased as they tirelessly shot at me. I woke up with a start, cold sweat drenched my body. I slowly got out of bed and grabbed my towel, I cleaned my face with the towel then headed to the showers. I took a hot shower wanting the cold to leave my body and never return. I finished my shower, got dressed, and headed to the cafeteria. I could see my reflection in my mobile screen. I was pale, not ghostly pale, but pale enough to be considered 'not alright.'

I walked into the cafeteria, got my food, then sat with Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich. I sat down next to Odd and didn't bother to acknowledge the fact that everyone was looking at me. "Anna are you...alright?" Yumi asked concern in her voice. I looked up at her and smiled weakly, "Yeah, just tired. I had a nightmare last night and I'm just a little shaken. I'll be fine." I poked at my breakfast then slid it over to Odd. "You know Anna, if you don't eat you won't have very much energy for the rest of the day." Jeremie said sitting with us. Everyone carried on with the usual chatter until evil invaded our territory. "Hello Ulrich Dear!" Sissy said standing at the head of the table. Yumi rolled her eyes and the mood at the table seemed to decrease. "What do you want Sissy?" Ulrich asked a glimmer of hostility in his voice. "Ulrich, I think we should take our relationship to the next level and-" "Sissy can't you tell he is uninterested?" I asked not bothering to let her finish her proposal. She shot me a look then continued, "We should go on a date! We could-" "Sissy you really are persistent. Just leave him alone, he obviously doesn't want to hang out with the likes of you." I said surprising myself at how rude I was being, or was it the fact that Sissy was too clingy and needed to back off- a lot. Everyone looked at me all were shocked at how hostile and angry I had become with Sissy. I looked back at Sissy whose eyes were not white with a small red X.A.N.A symbol in her iris'. "Geez Sissy don't freak out. Leave us alone will ya?" The others stood, "Anna get away from her she's X.A.N.A-fied!" Odd said trying to get me to stand by pulling on my arm. "X.A.N.A-Wha-" Sissy grabbed me by my throat and lifted me in the air. The cafeteria filled with screams and shrieks of terror. I felt no air enter or leave my body I kicked and tried get free of her grasp. Ulrich threw his tray at Sissys head, "Over here Sissy you big dope!" She released me and I fell to the ground, hit my head on the table and blacked out. I awoke with a splitting headache and the inability to move my neck or take deep breaths. I was in the factory. Jeremie sat in his usual chair typing away, "Hurry guys, for all we know Anna could take a turn for the worst and stop breathing any-Anna!" Jeremie said looking at me, "Are you okay? You took quite a beating. Glad to see you awake." He turned back tot he computer. I touched my neck and could feel large bruises from where Sissy had grabbed me. I examined my head next finding a large bump and little bit of dry and fresh blood. The elevator opened to reveal a battered Ulrich. "Ulrich great timing. You alright? Did you fight off Sissy?" I looked at Ulrich, my head started to hurt again. "Never mind Ulrich, tell us in the morning" He typed something in the computer, Ulrich walked over to me, "You alright?" he asked concern showed in his eyes. A bright light appeared. "You'll be alright. I promise." He said then we returned to the past.


	7. Chapter 5: Trouble

I eased my way from sleep and into reality. I stretched and stood up. Sunday, one of the best day of the week, no school,no teacher, no problems, hopefully. I did my morning routine and headed down to the cafeteria. I met up with Ulrich and Yumi at the arches. They were both blushing when I arrived. I smiled and cleared my throat, announcing my two looked at me startled, their expressions changed when they saw it was me. "Hey guys. Wanna, uh, head to breakfast?" I asked holding back a giggle. "Sure. I think Odd and Jeremie are there already." Yumi, Ulrich, and I walked silently. We made our way to the table. Odd and Jeremie were arguing about Kiwi again, "I never said he was dumb Odd!" Jeremie said crossing his arms and pushing his glasses up on his nose. I ate my croissant and listened to the others talk about this and that. "Since it's Sunday why don't we go do stuff?" Odd suggested. "Good idea Odd." Ulrich said looking at the others for their opinion. "Anna?" Odd said. Everyone was looking at me. "Sure. Sounds like fun." "Yeah!" Odd said and fist pumped in the air. The group decided we should spend our Sunday in town . We would meet in our usual spot in the forest at 12:30 It was currently 12:45 and no one had shown up yet. I sighed and leaned my back against the trunk of the tree and waited. My phone vibrated in my pocket, "Hello?" I said hoping it was the others. "Anna! Its Yumi! You need to get-" The line dropped and a beeping noise emanated from the other line. I hung up confused, I hope Yumi's okay. I waited there my thoughts preoccupied. Eventually my eyelids began to grow heavy, I yawned and started to drift off into a deep slumber. I awoke to someone shaking me furiously, "Anna! Wake up!" I woke up startled. I jumped up,pushed the person away from me and took a defensive stance. I looked and saw Ulrich staring at me, "Oh, hi Ulrich." I said with a smile. There was a loud crashing sound back towards where the school was. "What was that?!" I asked taken aback by the noise. "XANA launched an attack. lets go before it finds us." Ulrich grabbed my hand and ran, I followed. We dodged oncoming trees and tried to stay on the path. Eventually we ended up at a steep hill. Ulrich slid down the hill but almost fell, when he got to the bottom her motioned for me to follow. I followed more carefully but slipped and tumbled down.I tried to cover my face with my arms and got various amounts of scrapes and bruises. When I reached the bottom Ulrich ran over to me,"Are you okay?!" . I felt a sharp pain on the side of my head, on my arms, and in my left knee. "I think so." I tried to stand but knees buckled and I fell, Ulrich helped me up slowly. I felt the part of my head that hurt, it was immersed in blood. I glanced at Ulrich, He was asking me something that I couldn't quite understand. I stared at my bloody hand, Ulrich noticed and lifted my bangs revealing a large gash and blood. Ulrichs eyes widened, "Anna we need to get help. Get on my back and no matter what do not go to sleep. Promise. Promise me you won't go to sleep." He said putting his pinky finger out, I wrapped mine around his, "I promise." He lifted me up and ran deeper into the woods. I could feel my brain wanting to pull away from reality but I forced myself to stay awake, I promised him I would. My eyes started to grow heavier and heavier. We eventually made it to the factory. Ulrich took me to the scanner room immediately and placed me in a scanner then went up the ladder and told Jeremie what had happened. I slowly started to fall into slumber. A sleep unlike any other I had ever experienced. "Anna!" I heard Ulrichs voice say as I closed my eyes. There was a whoosh sound then a cool blast of air.

I sat up, the pain had subsided. Ulrich was running towards me, he looked worried. I then noticed he was not looking at me, but at something else. I turned around and saw a Mega-Tank and two Krabs coming towards me. I gasped and attempted to stand up. I slowly stood and thought about Ulrich, I appeared next him, or rather where he was. I heard the sounds of lasers being fired. "Ulrich!" I yelled. He looked around then spotted me. He super-sprinted to me dodging the incoming lasers and hugged me, "Are you okay?!" he nearly knocked me over. I nodded and he let go. He suddenly grabbed his shoulder, "60 life points left Ulrich, be careful you two." Jeremie lectured. I pulled my scythe from the sheath on my back and blocked several incoming lasers. Ulrich sprinted to the monsters and took down the Krabs. Suddenly a large laser came shooting towards me, I rolled out of the way and teleported behind the Mega-Tank it turned around and opened its shell, charging another laser. I stabbed the eye and it rolled back and exploded. Ulrich walked towards me, "Where is everyone?" I asked looking around and sheathing my scythe. "Aelita just got to the tower, Odd is with her, and Yumi is fighting of the specter." Jeremie said "Ready guys? Return to the past now." A bright light appeared and engulfed everything. I was, once again, waiting at the tree, except this time everyone was here on time. We headed into town saw a movie, we saw 'The Great Mutation', visited the arcade, and visited the best cafe I've ever been to. We headed back to Kadic at around 4 o'clock. I learned a lot about my friends and I even learned how to slay vampire-zombie hybrids. I prefer this day than the last. At the end of the day we headed to the factory to talk to Aelita and tell her about the movie and how Odd and Ulrich got beat by Yumi and I at Foosball. When we arrived in the super computer room Jeremie sat in his usual chair and the monitor lit up. He put on the headset and typed something. "Aelita? Aelita are you there?" He asked he seemed happier when he was at the factory than anywhere else. The usual screen popped up but Aelita wasn't there. We looked at one another confused. "Aelita? Guys. Get to the scanners. I think Aelita's in trouble." We were in the elevator before Jeremie could turn around and say it. I hope Aelita's okay...


	8. Chapter 6: Saviors

"Yumi, Ulrich, and I got in the scanners and waited for Jeremies to start the process. "Get ready guys," the doors to the scanners closed with an audible _whoosh_ "Scanner Yumi, scanner Anna, scanner Ulrich. Transfer Yumi, transfer Anna,  
transfer Ulrich. Virtualization." The was a large gust of wind and then we were in the air above the Ice Sector. We dropped down one at a time then stood ready, "Hey, Jeremie. Did XANA even activate a tower?" I asked unsheathing my scythe and looked around. "No, actually." His voice was a mixture of relief and befuddlement. "So our only problem is finding out where Aelita is." Odd said landing next to me. "Yes, which is weird. Aelita doesn't usually leave the tower by herself." "Do you think you could locate her using the Super Computer, Jeremie?"  
Yumi asked sitting on a nearby piece of ice. "I could try but it might take a few minutes."I sighed and sat next to Yumi. Odd and Ulrich started to spar. "Hey Anna, can I talk to you about something?" Yumi asked she sounded nervous. "Sure Yumes. Go ahead."I really like this new guy- his name is William- but I also really like this other guy who I've known longer. I think William likes me but I think the other guy does too. What should I do?" She looked solemnly at the ground. "I don't mean to be nosy but it would be easier to help if you would tell me who the other guy is." She glanced up towards Ulrich and Odd. "Please don't tell me its Odd." I said jokingly. She laughed "No,  
no." "Oooohh...You like..." I whispered "Ulrich?" she blushed. "I always thought you two looked cute together." She smiled, "Really?" I nodded.  
"No offense, but, if you really liked him, would you have fallen for another guy?" I asked. _Geez, I'm starting to sound like my mother._ "Hm, I guess you're right" she was silent for a moment. "So, is there anyone you're interested in?" I thought about it and my eyes wandered over to where Ulrich and Odd were sparring. "I'm not sure really- I mean about my feelings." Jeremie suddenly spoke, "I found her.  
She's in the Desert Sector. But she's not responding. There's a tower West of your current location. It should take you to the way-tower closest to Aelita." Ulrich and Odd stopped and listened, "Lets go." Ulrich said helping me up from my position on the ice. We ran to the tower as quickly as possible. We reached the tower and we were transported to the Desert Sector. We exited the tower and lasers started to fly around us. I drew my scythe and blocked as many as I could, "Its an ambush!" Jeremie sounded exasperated. "We hadn't noticed Einstein!" Odd said firing at a nearby Kankerlot.  
"Anna, do you think you could teleport to where Aelita is?"  
Jeremie asked worriedly. Yumi took my place deflecting lasers and I crouched behind Ulrich, "I can try."I closed my eyes and I thought of Aelita. When I opened my eyes I could make out her figure in this dim place, which seemed to be a cave. "Aelita!" I said hugging her. "Anna, thanks goodness you found me! I was looking for pulsations and I got ambushed. And XANA cut off my communication connections with the Super Calculator and Jeremies laptop, he keeps trying to send the Scyphozoa after me, but I evaded it so far." "I found her Jeremie. Wheres the activated tower, Jeremie?" "East of your direction. Where are you anyways?" "In a cavern- I think. Are the others close to the tower?" "Yeah, closer than you guys at least."  
"Good." I said. I closed my eyes and thought about Ulrich and grabbed Aelitas hand. I opened my eyes and got shot in the chest by a laser. "Sixty life points left Anna and forty for you Yumi." I took out my scythe and stood in front of Aelita blocking oncoming lasers. There were two Kankerlots left and Odd wanted to try his new move. He ran back a ways behind the group then sprinted towards us, he jumped closed to me and I put out my Scythe so he could jump off of it, he did so and fired killing one Kankerlot. Ulrich then put out his saber and Odd landed on the saber then repeated the move, killing the last one. "Nice one. Now hurry to the tower. I'm still not sure why The scan hadn't picked up the tower before." "Typical Einstein, always thinking. You know, thinking can be dangerous sometimes, good buddy." Odd joked. "I wish you'd think sometimes, Odd." Yumi countered.  
After a few minutes of silence and jogging Jeremie spoke, "You're nearly there-Wait, XANA has monsters guarding the tower." We stopped and hid behind a nearby boulder. "How many Jeremie?"  
Aelita asked. "Its looks like there's about five:two Krabs,two Mega-Tanks, and a Scyphozoa." We all looked at one another, "I have an idea." I said. All eyes were on me, "Who has the most life points?" "from greatest to least it's; Aelita-  
one hundred, Anna- sixty, Ulrich- sixty, Yumi- forty, and Odd-  
twenty." Jeremie announced. "Okay, so Aelita will distract them while Ulrich and I go around and try to devirtualize them, while Yumi and Odd protect Aelita and get her to the tower." They all nodded. We peeked around the boulder and we could see the outlines of the monsters as well as the red halo of the tower. "There's no cover. Aelita do you think you could create a boulder or something to cover us while were over there?" Yumi was focused and her tone showed it. Aelita closed her eyes and sat on her heels, she made a triangle shape with her hands and sang. The outline of a boulder appeared and was stood up and smiled, "Like that?" Yumi smiled, "Nice Aelita." "Alright, lets do this." We ran towards the other boulder trying not to be spotted by the in reckless monsters. When we reached the boulder the fire fight began. The monster unmercifully shot at us. I looked at the others, "One, two, three!" Aelita ran to the left followed by Yumi and Odd. The lasers were soon all being to the left,  
so Ulrich and I ran to the right, stealthily evading notice of the monsters. I jumped on top of a Krab and sliced the eyes of XANA open. The Mega-Tanks noticed us as both Krabs exploded and Ulrich and I jumped off. One of the Mega-Tanks charged its laser and fired at us. I rolled out of the way and Ulrich stopped it with his saber. It started to push him back and I ran at it, I sliced the eye of XANA .  
However I had failed to noticed the other Mega-Tank charging its laser. It fired and hit my leg, knocking me over just as the first Mega-Tank exploded sending me back to where I had rolled away from the first laser. "Forty life points left Anna." I felt a searing pain in my leg and intense pain from the impact of the ground on my side. I could hear two distant explosions, T _hey must have gotten the Scyphozoa and last Mega-Tank_. I slowly sat up and was greeted by a smiling Odd, "You okay there 'General Embers'" He saluted causing me to laugh. He extended a hand I took it and he helped me up, "Ow, watch the claws Della-Robia."  
I pretend scolded. We walked over to Ulrich was sitting on a rock glaring at the ground and Yumi was facing away from him frowning..  
"Whoa, what happened over here?" Odd asked. "Nothing Odd." Ulrich snapped. I recoiled slightly, "Are you okay Ulrich." I asked quietly. He looked up at me slightly, he had a look of hurt in his eyes but anger on his face. _He sounded really angry_. I hope everything's alright. "I'll bring you guys in." Odd, Ulrich and Yumi went first and I waited for my turn. Aelita exited the tower and smiled at me. "Thanks again for finding me Anna." She hugged me and I the rematerialization process. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


	9. Chapter 7: The Proposal

I awoke with a splitting headache and a bandage on my head. I sat up and looked around. I'm in my room, however I'm still in clothes from yesterday, big surprise. I got out of bed and did my daily routine. When I was finished I headed to the cafeteria there weren't many people. _Probably because its so early._ I walked into the lunchroom and waited for the others. When it was five minutes before our first class I decided to leave, they probably slept in. We had a late night yesterday. As I made my way to my class I noticed Odd and Ulrich sprinting out of the dormitory building and towards the science building with Jeremie following behind, attempting to keep up. I ran behind them saying hello to Jeremie and making my way to the front where Odd and Ulrich hadn't slowed down. I ran between them, "Hey guys." They both stopped and Odd almost tripped. "What?" I asked turning around. "Glad to see you're alright." Ulrich said. "Nice to see you too, but were gonna be late for class! Lets go!" We ran the rest of the way and made it with seconds to spare.  
~~~~~~~~~~

I looked around our group. Everyone was talking about their plans for spring break. Yumi was visiting family in Japan, Odd was going to America, Jeremie was going to Iceland, and Ulrich was going to Germany. I sighed and everyone looked at me, "Are you doing anything special for spring break Anna?" Odd asked trying to include me in the conversation. "Nope. My parents want me to focus on my studies, so I have to stay here." I said looking down at the stained lunch table. "It's okay Anna. At least someone will be here to keep an eye on Aelita and Lyoko. Hopefully XANA won't give you any trouble." Jeremie said putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Hopefully..." I muttered. After lunch we each headed to our respective classes. I couldn't focus at all. " !" snapped me out of my thoughts, "Would you care to tell the class when did the Blenheim War begin?" He asked eying me suspiciously. "It was uh..." I thought for a second, "1704?"I asked more than answered. He nodded, "Very good." I sighed with relief then went back to my thoughts. When the bell rang I picked up my things and headed for the door. " please wait, I need to speak to you for a moment. " said from his desk. I sighed in frustration and walked over. Once everyone was gone he spoke, "Anna, is everything alright? You seem unfocused today. As I recall you claimed your favorite subjects were History and English. Is everything alright? If you need to talk to someone I'm here for you." "I'm fine , just a bit tired. I've had a lot on my mind lately and spring break is drawing near. All my friends are going somewhere but I have to stay here." He nodded taking in what I was saying, "Well maybe you could make your own fun. Go out and see a movie with some of the kids that will be here as well, make new friends. Have some fun." "Alright. Thank you ." I said, he handed me an excuse pass for my next class and sent me on my way. I walked into the gym and handed Jim my pass and went to the locker room, changed into my PE clothes; a red long sleeved shirt, black shorts, and black converse. , then came back out. Everyone was off doing their own thing. Ulrich and Odd were playing soccer with a few other kids and Jeremie was siting the bleachers typing away on his laptop. "Anna, today is free day. Do as you like." Jim said. I walked over to Odd and Ulrich who were now aware of my presence. "Hey Anna,where have you been?" Ulrich asked walking over to me. " needed to talk to me. Whats up?" "Nothing really. Hey you should do a dance for us. Ulrich told me how good you are." Odd said. Ulrich and I blushed in unison. "I mean if you really want me to...I would need the music though..." I trailed off and looked at the ground. "You let me worry about that." Odd said walking towards Jim. I decided to play soccer with Ulrich while we waited. Odd returned five minutes with a portable radio, my CD from my room, and my pointe shoes. I glared at him "Odd, how did you get that stuff out of my room?" he laughed nervously, "I-uh-I found it, now lets see it Anna!" Odd said. We went into the gym and I slipped off my shoes and replaced them with my pointe shoes. I took my position and waited for Ulrich to press play. When The music started I began. I twirled and leaped with more energy than I had ever before. When I was finished I posed and Ulrich stopped the music. I heard clapping, I turned and saw Sissy and her crew clapping, Sissys expression was one of devious intentions. I blushed, I hadn't realized anyone else was watching. I switched shoes again and the bell rang. After PE was finished the school day was over. I headed back to my dorm but was intercepted by Sissy and her 'friends'. "Ah! Anna, just the person I wanted to speak to." She said an evil smirk dancing on her lips."What do _you_ want Sissy?" I asked annoyed by her presence, she just smiled, "You're really good Anna. I have a proposal for you, join our group," She gestured towards Nicholas and Herb, "And I can help you get noticed for dancing. We just have to talk my father into making a few arrangements. " I blinked," What? wait- are you serious?" I asked bewildered. She nodded. "Wait, _just_ to be in your group?" She nodded again , _What are the Pros and cons of this situation hm?_ The little voice inside my head said, _Pros; Scholarship, possible fame, etc. Cons; She could be lying, possibility it won't happen. Its worth a shot._ "If you become famous we could be stars together! You could be the back up dancer for all of my songs that I will sing when _**I'm**_ famous and we I could win awards and we could tour around the world and everyone will love m-uhm- us!" she had a dreamy look in her eyes that showed that she was dreaming of what it would be like. "Well. Why don't you call me when ** _you're_** famous then Sissy." I smiled and walked away, she looked shocked confused even. I walked to my room did my routine of showering and such and headed to bed. _I shouldn't have shown off like that. Ah, maybe I could...no Jeremie would kill me if I returned to the past without telling him and the others why. Maybe Sissy isn't even mad. I guess we'll find out._ It took hours before sleep finally took over and I began to dream.

When I awoke it was 9:45. Ah Saturdays, the worlds laziest day of the week. I rolled out of bed undressed into my robe and grabbed my towel. I took a shower and when I returned to my room to find a note on my bed: 'Meet me in the woods at midnight. We need to talk. -Anonymous'


	10. Chapter 8: Swarming Attack

I stood in the courtyard with Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich talking about Aelitas materialization program. Yumi walked over to us, "Hey guys." everyone greeted Yumi, "Anna can I talk to you for a second?" I nodded and we walked away from the group. "Whats up?" I asked taking a sip from the hot chocolate I had purchased. "I told Ulrich about William. That's why he was angry the other day. He said it didn't matter to him anyways and that he's happy for me. However he did tell me something a bit more personal...something you should know..." I nodded. "Ulrich likes you." I almost choked on my hot chocolate. I swallowed it and looked at her. She had a weak smile on her face. I was blushing and I knew it. The bell rang and Yumi waved goodbye. I couldn't stop thinking about what she had said. The others caught up to me, "What was that about?" Odd asked. "Yumi was asking me if I- uh- knew anything about this new guy, William." "Oooh." Odd said understandingly. Odd suddenly grabbed my arm softly and pulled me back, away from Jeremie and Ulrich. I faced him, he was blushing, "A-are you okay?" he stammered. Yeah, are you?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Well- uhm, I-" "Anna! Odd! Lets go!" Jeremie beckoned. "Never mind, I'll talk to you later." he said walking away.  
~During Gym~  
I passed the soccer ball to Jeremie and Jeremie passed it to Ulrich, and Ulrich passed it to Odd. Odd wasn't paying attention and tripped over the ball, falling on his face. WE all ran over to him. Ulrich helped him up, "Are you okay Odd?" I asked restraining a giggle. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Just tired." He then laughed nervously. _Whats wrong with him today?_  
~After Class~  
Ulrich, Jeremie, Odd and I all sat in the courtyard talking about a new video game that came out, 'Year Walk.' (Year Walk is an actual game. Check it out its really fun.) It was mostly Ulrich, Jeremie and I who were talking. Odd seemed to be day dreaming. All conversation suddenly stopped when a scream could be heard across the courtyard. The grounds keeper ran through the courtyards a swarm of wasps pursuing him. Jeremies laptop started beeping, "XANA." He said looking at us. "You think the wasps are part of the attack?" He nodded. The wasps started spreading out and attacking students in the courtyard. "Get him to the infirmary. Anna and I will distract the wasps." Ulrich and I took off running. The wasps noticed and followed suit. Suddenly Yumi appeared around the corner and almost bumped into us. "Follow me." WE followed her to the administration building and we ran inside, tumbling over each other. "Are you guys alright?" Yumi asked standing up. "Yeah, but I got stung." I said holding out my palm, a large red spot was in the center. "Are you okay?" Ulrich asked concerned."Yeah, I'm fine." He helped me up and explained to Yumi what happened. "Lets. go to the nurses office and see if they're alright." She said and we nodded. We walked to the infirmary and found Odd and Jeremie. "How is he?" I asked standing against the wall. "He's fine, but one more sting and he could have died." Jeremie said. "I gotta now guys. My parents want me home for dinner tonight. Keep me posted." Yumi said walking off. Suddenly my phone rang, I stepped aside and answered it. "Anna, I want you to listen to what they say..." It was Yumi. I listened to the guys, "I told you Odd, the note wasn't for you. It was for me." They were whispering slightly. Why though? "Whatever hotshot. Go and ask her who it was for then." Odd sounded angry but also upset. "Bye Anna." I hung up and put my phone in my back pocket. I walked back to the guys. "I need to go and work on my materialization program. Bye guys." "Hey, Jeremie, can I help?" Jeremie was taken aback by Odds sudden interest. "Sure..." They both left leaving Ulrich and I standing there. "Anna, I need to ask you something. Its about the note." "Ulrich I-" "Please, let me finish. I need to know. Was it for me or Odd? You never said who it was for, so we just assumed...You know? So tell me, which of us do you have feelings for?" "Ulrich. I didn't write either of you a note." I said quietly. There was the sudden sound of laughter from behind us. "Kind of embarrassing if you ask me. She never sent a letter Ulrich" Sissy said then cackled. "Well, no one asked you Sissy. Forget them Ulrich. Its-" "It doesn't matter. Leave me alone." He said walking away. I followed him until he broke into a sprint and left me in the dust. I got a call form Odd, "XANA attack, meet us at the Factory." "Okay. I'll tell Ulrich." I hung up and decided to check his room. I reached the boys dormitory and found his room. The door was unlocked, so I went in. Sure enough Ulrich was sitting on his bed, his head down. "Go away Odd. The note wasn't for either of us. It was a prank from Sissy." "Ulrich." I said sitting next to him. "He looked at me, "I already know what you're going tell me and I don't want hear it." He said getting off the bed and walked towards the door. "Ulrich you can't let Sissy come between us. Our friendship is too strong." I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm sorry Ulrich." I said the tears started falling. "We have to go though. XANA's attacking. If you don't want to go and help. I understand." I pushed passed him and opened the door. I wiped the tears from my eyes and made my way to the factory. When I reached the tunnel Jeremie, Yumi, and Odd were there with a weird a machine."Hey Anna. Great timing. The bugs are in the tunnel." "So how do we get through?" "My robot. I will distract it." Jeremie said holding up a metal contraption. Just then Ulrich walked up, "Oh, hey Ulrich. Where have you been?" Ulrich didn't answer. "Well , then lets go."Jeremie set the machine on the floor of the tunnel. The bugs moved as far away as possible. We all ran to the other side and up the latter. I was half way up when it stopped and the bugs started moving in on us,"Uh, Jeremie...It stopped." "Oops, Batteries are dead." "What?!" we climbed up faster, but the bugs were faster and clouded around Yumi. She climbed faster and we covered the hole quickly after she got out. She was breathing heavily and had red marks on her arms and face."Lets go." She said running into the factory. We eventually made into the scanner room mostly unscathed. Odd, Ulrich, and I got in the pods and waited. "Scanner Odd, scanner Ulrich, scanner Anna. Transfer Odd, transfer Ulrich, transfer Anna. Virtualization." There was blast of cool air and then we were weightless, above the greenery that was the Forest Sector. We dropped down and readied our weapons. "Yumi will join you in a second." There were no monsters in sight and no Aelita either. "Do any of you see Aelita anywhere?" Jeremie asked. Yumi dropped down beside me, "No Jeremie." I couldn't keep my mind off of Ulrich, even though he was standing behind me. "Warning guys, Three swarms of hornets headed your way. Careful." Jeremie warned. Odd and Yumi readied themselves, but I didn't the will to move. The first swarm arrived and started shooting at us, _Their aim is horrible._ I though watching them intently sometimes I would have to move in order to dodge a laser. Ulrich hadn't moved from behind me. I watched the three hornets get destroyed by Yumi and Odd and the next ones arrived. This time Odd and Yumi weren't as coordinated and got hit several times, "Forty life points left you two, be careful!" "Ulrich! Anna! Enemy at three o'clock!" Odd said firing at one of the hornets. I didn't move, I watched the hornet try to shoot us. I teleported behind it and killed it with my scythe. Odd got the last one of this wave and Yumi went to find Aelita. "Laser arrow!" Odd killed the last one without missing a beat. The next wave appeared faster than the last and converged on Yumi. Yumi, unaware of the hornets, finally found Aelita and was struck with lasers. "Ten life points left Yumi!" Jeremie sounded scared and yet angry. Yumi was shot again and got devirtualized the hornets retreated. "Wait, they're circling back!" Jeremie warned. one started shooting at Ulrich and I. I blocked the lasers and protected Ulrich until it retaliated again. "Ulrich, you need to snap out of it!" Odd said angrily, Ulrichs eyes fixed on something in the distance and Odd followed his gaze and saw the last hornet. The monster started releasing a green ooze and Odd went after it, "One...two..THREE!" Odd was submerged with the liquid but still managed to kill the hornet. Odd devertualized and Aelita ran over to us. I turned to Ulrich, "Ulrich I know you're unhappy, but I-we-Aelita needs you right now." I blushed slightly. Ulrich pulled out his saber and looked at me, "Get Aelita to the tower." I smiled at him, "Go." He said and super sprinted passed me and battled another hornet. Aelita and I ran to the tower Aelita ran to the tower and the last hornet appeared from behind it. I got shot twice by the foul monster, "Seventy Life points left Anna." The hornet started oozing green liquid like the last. Droplets hit me stinging my skin, " Ten life points Anna. That stuff must be corrosive!" Jeremie said. Suddenly an orange blur passed in from of me, "Impact!" and the hornet exploded. I looked up and saw Ulrich standing there saber in hand. He helped me up and a bright light appeared, "Return to the past now."

I walked behind Sissy as quietly as possible, she was about to slip a note under Ulrich and Odds door. Suddenly the door opened revealing Odd and Ulrich standing there smiling at Sissy. "Well, hello there Sissy." Odd said taking the note. "That's pretty embarrassing if you ask me." I mocked. She looked at me then at Ulrich and Odd."Uhm-uh wrong-wrong door." She snatched the note out of Odds hand and ran away. We all laughed and watched her flee.


	11. Chapter 9:The Trap

I sat in a tree in the woods. I was waiting for who ever had sent me the note. I was looking around for any sign that someone was here, I checked my phone, it was exactly midnight. I sighed and saw someone walk into the clearing, I tensed up when I realized it was Jim, he was checking the forest for any students. I quietly climbed higher,  
so he couldn't see me. After he passed I waited a few minutes before coming down. I dropped down quietly and looked around. I noticed a figure sitting behind the tree. I snuck over to see who it was. I realized it was someone I had never seen before. They looked at me and the symbol of XANA flashed in their eyes. I backed away and got out my mobile, calling Ulrich. The specter moved to me with inhuman speed and stood in front of me. "Hello? Anna, you there?" I could hear Ulrich on the other line. "H-help."  
I managed to squeak out before the specter took my phone and crushed it in their hand. "Hey! What are you doing out here?!" I heard Jim yell, I turned and Jim was shining a flashlight on us. The specter shot an orb of electricity at him and Jim got hit in the chest knocking him on the ground. I looked at the specter and it picked me up the throat. I felt my feet come off the ground and I started to kick wildly. I could feel myself start to slip away and I closed my eyes, the specter gave out a soft chuckle. "Hey, get away from her!" A voice yelled and suddenly I was released and I fell on the ground. I tried to open my eyes, but I didn't have the willpower, my lungs were burning and I was trying to get as much air into me as I could. Eventually I slowed my breathing and resorted to shallow breathes. Someone touched my face softly then picked me up, I opened my eyes slowly, I saw brown hair and green eyes. Ulrich.  
"Anna. You okay?" he asked glancing down at me. I tried to speak but all I could do was make a weird squeaky sound. "It's okay, were almost to the factory." He said soothingly. I watched the world around us. We just entered the factory when suddenly I was launched forward, out of his arms. I landed with a hard thud on the ground. I looked up and saw the specter pinning Ulrich to the gr0und.  
I watched as the specter started to create a ball of energy in his hands, I stood up slowly then rand over to Ulrich as fast as I could.  
I jumped onto the specter bringing all my weight onto him, pushing him off of Ulrich. I was laying on the floor close to the specter,  
Ulrich stood up and ran to me but was stopped by a ball of energy being shot at him, sending him to the wall at the end of the room.  
The specter then walked over to me and laughed. I tried to get away from it, but I backed into a wall. He charged another ball of energy and I covered my face with my arms. He shot it at me and I passed out

~~~~~~~~  
We had returned to the past and the group and I were sitting on the bench in the courtyard. "So what happened while I was passed out?" I asked, I couldn't help but wonder if I had missed all the action.  
"You know. The usual. Desert Sector, hornets, Bloks, the lot.  
But I will admit, you missed Yumis awesome new move. She lured a bunch of hornet into a circle around her and then spun around throwing and catching her fans killing each one! It was amazing!"  
Odd praised. She rolled her eyes and we all laughed. "I think the one thing you missed was Aelita taking affirmative action. She was the leader this time. She even told Jeremie what to do! I think he liked it though." we all laughed at Jeremies blushing face.  
"I still can't help but wonder if that note was really from Xana or from someone else, someone who was actually wanting to meet me in the forest. I know it sound crazy, but I'm almost positive XANA didn't send that note." They all looked at me quizzically

I couldn't stop thinking about the note, so I went back to my dorm to examine it. I looked at the handwriting closely, Sure enough it was Odds. _Odd must be pretty good at lying if he hadn't got found out by the others. Especially Ulrich._


	12. Chapter 10: Routine

We sat on the usual bench in front of the administration office, Yumi on my right, Ulrich on my left, and Odd was sitting across from us with Jeremie. We had returned to the past just a few moment ago. "Here she comes." Yumi warned us about the oncoming diva, Sissy. "Hello Ulrich dear! Can we talk for a minute?" Odd said mockingly, Ulrich shook his head and sighed. Finally Sissy approached us, "Hello Ulrich Dear! Can we talk for a minute?" Sissy said. Ulrich reluctantly got up and went to deal with Sissy. They kept looking in my direction and Sissy was smiling.

* * *

Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, and I walked Yumi to the end of the grounds of Kadic to say goodnight. "So, anyone feel like sneaking into town to get some ice cream or something?" Ulrich asked looking around. "Can't, I have a heavy date with my pillow." Odd said with a pretend snore afterwards. "I need to work on Aelitas materialization, but one of these days I'm gonna do it!" Jeremie and Odd left, Ulrich looked at Yumi and then at me. "I'm really sorry Ulrich. I have to catch up on my studying, I'm behind thanks to all these XANA attacks. I'll see you tomorrow, ciao." Yumi said crossing the street and going home. Ulrich turned towards me, "Anna? You wanna go get some ice cream?" I smiled at him, "Sure." He smiled even brighter. "Ahem. Where do you two think you're going?" Jim said authoritatively. "Nowhere, Jim." Ulrich said, and with that we walked to our dorms. Later I got a text message from Ulrich:

Ulrich: Sorry for almost getting us into trouble. Maybe we can go tomorrow?  
Me: It's Okay. I'm sorry, I can't tomorrow. I'm helping with the yearbook. Maybe some other time?  
Ulrich: It's fine, I understand. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.  
Me: Night.

I set my phone on my nightstand and tried to dream, but all that came was nightmares.

* * *

Yumi and I were walking through the courtyard when we saw Emily and Ulrich flirting?! Yumi stalked over to where Odd and Jeremie were sitting on a bench, I followed. "What kind of a game does hes think hes playing?!" Yumi fumed. "He's just talking to her, Yumi. What are you? Jealous?" Odd teased. Yumi glared daggers in his direction. "Me? Jealous of Emily?! You've got to be kidding. Besides, she's a year older than him, and that's a lot!" "Uh, Yumi, so are you." Jeremie said looking up from his laptop. I stared at the two, What's wrong with me? Why do I feel angry towards Emily...Am I...Jealous? Suddenly Sissy walked over to me, "Quite a romance going on there, huh? Two months already, that's not bad." Sissy said. My mouth went dry and I felt a lump in my throat. Sissy walked away leaving me to stare at the couple. A sudden beeping interrupted my thoughts, "XANAs launched an attack." Jeremie said pulling out his mobile. "That's weird, Ulrich must have shut off his phone." "I'll go get him." I said without thinking. "Okay, meet us at the factory." Odd said, with that they walked away. I took a deep breathe and pretended to smile. You can do this. I walked over to the two. "Hey, Ulrich. can I talk to you for a second?" "Sure Anna. I'll be right back Emily." I felt jealousy boil inside of me. "Jeremies been trying to reach you, XANAs launched an attack." Emily was looking at us, I felt as though I was going to explode in rage. "XANA again? Gone on, I'll be right there." He said with a shrug, he turned to go and I grabbed his hand, my feeling exploded, "What do you mean go on?!" I practically yelled. "Cool it, huh Anna?" I stared at him, "Okay I'll cool it. But first, tell me whats going on with you and Emily." He pulled his hand away, "Nothings going on. I liker her, we get along really well. I don;t understand the problem, unless that bothers you." He countered. "Bothers me?!I mean-uh- No! Its just, you could have told us about it- me about it! Like buddies!" "So that's what you think of us; 'buddies'. I always wondered what I meant to you, now I know!" "That's right, buddies, friends-And even something more- but that doesn't matter, that's not how you want it. Not like Emily! Ugh, Ulrich!" "Okay, then what do you think of me- of us, huh? And be honest. And while you're at it, tell me your feelings for Odd too." He was getting angry. "Me, be honest?! You and Emily have been tighter for two months without a word, and you tell me to be honest?!" I yell at him. "Where did you get that idea from?Emily and I are- forget it. I'm not going to defend myself to you! Ciao!" He said walking back over to Emily grabbing her hand, and walking away. I felt tears in my eyes, I tried to stop myself, but my emotions got the better of me and I started to cry. My phone vibrated in my back pocket I answered it immediately, "Ulrich?! Oh, hi Jeremie. Yeah. He's on his way. Yeah, me too. Okay." I hung up and ran to the factory, my face was still red and my eyes were puffy. When I reached the Super Calculator room Odd, Jeremie and Aelita, who was on the monitor, were the only ones there. "Wheres Yumi?" I asked trying to hide the shakiness in my voice. "Family emergency." Odd said turning to me. He looked angry and confused when he saw my face, he walked over and hugged me. "What happened?" "Ask your 'good buddy' Ulrich." I said and the tears started to flow. I cried silently for a few minutes until I heard the elevator open. I let go of Odd and looked over to see Ulrich. He was glaring at Odd and I, I ignored him. "I think one of you should do some reconnaissance on Lyoko." Jeremie said,"Send Ulrich, he needs to be entertained." I said turning away from him. "Ladies first, get her out of our hair." I scoffed. "Alright,that's enough. I'm tired of all this quarreling. Aelita needs us and that what I call an emergency. So head to the scanners, all of you are going!" Jeremie said angrily. We all looked at him in surprise and headed to the elevator. After we were in the scanner the process started. "Transfer Anna, transfer Ulrich, transfer Odd. Scanner Anna, scanner Ulrich, scanner Odd. Virtualization." There was a rush of air then were floating above the Desert Sector. Aelita smiled at us, "Hey." "Hi Aelita." Odd said glumly. "Aelita, there was a bug at the moment of transfer is everyone-" "Everyone's here. Safe, sound, and ready to go." "XANAs infected a program, but I can't tell which one." I'll check it out." Aelita said walking over to the way-tower. "You won't kill each other if I leave you alone, will you?" Aelita teased. I scoffed at her comment. I sat on a bunch of rocks waiting for Aelita and reflecting on what had happened today. Out of nowhere a Kankerlot approached, "You go, you're the closest." Ulrich said to Odd. Odd stood and pointed his arms at the monster, "Be careful Odd. This monster could kill you guys for good." Jeremie warned. Odd fired and arrow hitting the eye of XANA and exploding. The explosion sent Odd flying backwards. "Jeremie what just happened?!" Ulrich asked unsheathing his saber. I ran over to Odd . "Oh no! Odds lost fifty life points already!" Jeremie yelled worriedly. "Calm down Jeremie. Odds still with us." I said helping him up. "I don't understand how could-" Jeremie was cut off by Ulrich, "Jeremie, Aelita takes these kind of risks all the changed, we just have to be a little more careful, that's all." "Yeah but this time XANAs trapped us, and we can't make a mistake." I added looking for monsters. "It'll make the fight a little more exciting." Odd said with a ran out of the tower, "I need to deactivate the tower before XANA can concentrate all of his power on us." she said out f breathe. "Alright. Hurry, and watch out for XANAs monsters." Jeremie said. Without wasting a moment we ran to the tower. I readied my scythe as we neared the tower. No monster so far. That's not a good a sign. "Jeremie how are we doing?" Aelita asked breathlessly. "You're almost there. There are two Mega-Tanks and a Krab waiting for you guys." He sounded scared. We spotted the monsters and hid behind a nearby pile of rocks. "If we try to get through this were done for!" Odd said peeking over the rocks slightly. "I don't think so, we just need to hang on until Aelita enters the code." Ulrich said optimistically."It yoohoo it's us time!" Odd said with a big grin. I looked at him confused. "Alright, Odd and I will take on the mega-tanks and Anna you can handle the Krab. Aelita you gotta run." Ulrich said to her, he then looked at me. "Be careful Anna." He said quietly. "I,uh, you too Ulrich." I said blushing slightly. We got up and ran towards the monsters. I reached the Krab only to get fired at. I got in the shoulder and fell to my knees in pain. "Anna!" Odd called out I looked up to see the Krab attacking him. "'I'm coming!" I stood up and teleported to a nearby rock structure. I ran atop the structure following the Krab. I saw an opening to attack and jumped off the structure and I threw my Scythe hitting the mark of XANA. Before it charged a laser and shot me before it exploded. The blast launched me over the side of the platform. "Anna!" I could hear Ulrich scream. I closed my eyes and waited for the end. Something suddenly grabbed my wrist. I opened my eyes to see Ulrich on the platform holding on to my wrist."I got you Anna." He pulled me up and I hugged him. "Ulrich..." I pulled away and looked at the ground, blushing greatly. He lifted my chin and leaned in, but before our lips met a bright light appeared. "Return to the past now." Jeremie's voice echoed around us as everything was submerged in the light.


	13. Chapter 11: The Girl Of The Dreams

Jeremie, Ulrich and I sat in the super calculator room. Jeremie was typing away on the super computer and Ulrich and I were sitting next to one another silently. "Anna, about...what happened...on Lyoko...I, I don't want things to...come between us, and I...I..just wanted to tell you..." He trailed off blushing a deep crimson. I looked up at him, "Ulrich...I know and I feel the same way." He looked at me and we leaned in. Jeremie suddenly jumped up out of his chair, smiling "I did it! I finished the materialization program for Aelita!" He exclaimed. We both stopped and looked at him. "You did?!" I asked running up to the monitor and looking at the numerous amount of code that was there. "Yep! It's finally done! Lets get you guys to Lyoko and get Aelita to Earth!" Jeremie said sitting back down and typing.

"Jeremie, as happy as I am for you being able to finish the program, we can't bring her just yet. We need to make preparations. She'll be here, and then what? We need to make preparations for her." Ulrich said putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. A new window popped up showing Aelita. "Hello Jeremie. I couldn't help but wonder what you were doing here so late." Aelita said sweetly. He looked at us and I shook my head. "I was working on your materialization program, that's all. We have to go now, Aelita. Sorry." "It's okay Jeremie. Goodnight." Aelita said. "Goodnight." We said to her. We tried to drag Jeremie away from the computer after the window closed. He pressed some keys and then gave in. We headed back to Kadic, Jeremie was a bit stubborn about leaving the factory but gave in. Jeremie told us about how he could forge some documents to ensure that she attend Kadic. We agreed and decided it would be less suspicious if we let Aelita pose as my sister. The others said we looked similar enough to pull it off.

* * *

Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie and I entered class talking about Aelitas materialization. Jeremie fixed his gaze on something and stopped. We looked at Jeremie then at what he was staring at. Our draws dropped when we saw her. "Aelita.." Jeremie muttered as the girl approached us, he dropped his book bag and all of his books. "No, sorry, the names Taelia." she said giving Jeremie a confused look. We picked up Jeremies things and stuffed them back into his arms. "Taelia? But I though-" I jumped in front of Jeremie while Odd and Ulrich dragged him away from the new girl. "Sorry about that." I said scratching the back of my head nervously. "He thinks your old friend who moved away. He was madly in love with her. It was nice meeting you!" I said running back to the others.

"Are you guys crazy or what?!" Jeremie said glaring at us. "Jeremie that is **not** Aelita. It can't be!" Odd said shaking his head in dismay. "We didn't even ma- wait." I remembered Jeremie typing something in the super computer before we left. "Did you..."I trailed off. He put his head down and sighed, "I just wanted to see her so badly! I was hoping you wouldn't notice I launched the program." Jeremie confessed. "We should go to the factory and check if Aelita is there, so we can be sure this isn't her." Ulrich said looking at Taelia.

"Why do we need to check?! shes right here!" He yelled. "Jere-" "You guys are crazy!" He said moving away from us. Ulrich, Odd and I sat down. Throughout the class I couldn't help but think that there was a possibility that Taelia was really Aelita. I noticed a folded piece of paper on my notebook. I picked it up and quietly unfolded it. 'Anna, I want you to know how I feel. I know you and Ulrich are insane for each other, so I wanted to tell you, that I respect that. I will, however, miss the thought of you and I one day being together. Sincerely, your good buddy, Odd.' I blushed slightly at the message and folded it back up and placed it in my bag. I looked at the clock, we only had a minute of class left. Everyone packed up their things and as the bell rang a beeping noise emanated from Jeremies bag, we all looked at one another and headed to the factory. When we got out of the classroom we realized Jeremie hadn't come with us. He was nowhere in sight, so carried on to the factory.

* * *

We arrived in the super calculator room in record time and looked for Jeremie. "I'll call Yumi." I said pulling out my mobile and dialing Yumis number. "Hello?" She answered sounding out of breathe. "Yumi, XANAs launched an attack." "I know. I'm handling it right now." I could hear the sound of a metal object hitting something. "Alright, good luck Yumi." I hung up and could hear Ulrich talking to Jeremie, " **YOU'RE WHAT?!** " he said furiously. The elevator opened revealing Jeremie and Taelia, "And this is the super calculator room." He said putting his mobile away. "Lets go guys, we need hurry, so we can help Yumi." Odd said getting in the elevator, Ulrich and I followed suit. We descended down to the scanner room. The elevator door opened and we each got into a pod, waiting for Jeremie to launch the virtualization program. The scanners closed with an audible _whoosh_ and Jeremie voice echoed around us. "Transfer Ulrich, transfer Odd, transfer Anna. Scanner Ulrich, scanner Odd, scanner ." There was a rush of cold air and we were transferred to Lyoko. I hung in the air for a few second before dropping to the ground. I landed on my feet and looked around for any sign of monsters. All clear. I looked towards Odd and Ulrich, they were relieved there weren't any monsters. "What about Taelia? Or Aelita, or whoever she is?" Odd asked skeptical. "Oh, right." I looked around the rocky plateaus that were the Mountain Sector. "Uh, guys...we have a slight problem." We looked at one another, "Taelias gone." "What?!" The three of us yelled in unison. Jeremie was silent for a minute, "Hey, what that?" "Whats what?" Odd asked confused. "There's a...bubble thing on my screen, you should go check it out. It's North-East of your direction." Jeremie notified us. We ran in the direction Jeremie pointed us in and didn't stop until we could see a pink orb in the distance, heavily guarded by two Krabs and Mega-Tank. "I got the Mega-Tank. You guys take the Krabs." We charged in and attacked the monsters. I faced off against the Mega-Tank. It kept its shell closed and tried to run over me. I dropped my scythe try evade its next attack. It missed me, just barely. It took this advantage and opened its shell to charge a laser. I ran to my scythe and teleported behind the monster. I slashed the eyes of XANA and sent it rolling off the edge of the plateau. "What are the stats Einstein?" Odd asked curiously looking at the now unguarded bubble. Ulrich sheathed his saber and walked closer to the bubble, examining it. "Guys...Is...is that, Aelita?"


	14. Chapter 12: Saving Aelita

"Guys...Is...is that, Aelita?" Ulrich asked looking intently a the pink orb. Odd and I came closer to the bubble and peered inside. I could make out a petite figure inside the bubble. "I...I think it it!" I said taken aback. "Well, only one way to finds out." Ulrich said pointing his saber towards the pink orb. He slashed away at the orb. When he was finished he sheathed his saber and looked at the pink ball of energy, "Nothing! Not even a scratch!" Ulrich said dejectedly. Odd smirked, "Don't worry Ulrich, I got this." I rolled my eyes and watched Odd fire several laser arrows at the orb. When he finished I gave him a skeptical look.

He shrugged, "Why don't you try then?" He asked standing back. I shook my head at him, "Because, I'm smart enough to realize that the only way to get Aelita out is by using the super computer, not physical force." I said sitting on a nearby rock. "Oh." was how he replied. "Anna has a very good point. I could try to override XANAs control ov-" Jeremie was cutoff by Odd yawning loudly. "Yeah, yeah. We get it Einstein." I sat on the rock and thought about the recent 'events' the had happened over the last day or so. I blushed at the thought of kissing Ulrich. "You okay over there Anna?" Ulrich asked pulling me out of my dream-like state.

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm just tired is all." Suddenly the pink orb started to close in on itself, slowly shrinking in size. "Jeremie whats happening?!" I asked standing up. "I don't kn- Oh wait, give me a second. I think I can fix it." I pulled out my scythe and sliced at the orb. Suddenly the orb began to grow and I stepped back from it. The orb exploded and Aelita collapsed to the ground. I ran over and helped Aelita up. "Aelita are you okay?!" I asked letting her use me for support. She steadied herself and smiled broadly, "Thank you." Aelita said still smiling. "Nice one Einstein." Ulrich praised.

"You guys need to head to the tower- and fast. Taelia just came back, with Principal Delmas, Jim, and the police..." There was an audible gulp from Jeremie. "I spotted the tower on another plateau several miles away. "This way guys." I said running towards the tower. The four of us jumped form plateau to plateau trying to reach the activated tower. When we reached the tower we were stopped by two Kankerlots, three Bloks, and two Krabs. Aelita stayed on a neighboring plateau, hidden from the monsters. I fought off the two Kankerlots with ease and got cornered by the Bloks. I fended off as best as I could getting shot only a few times and killing one.

I teleported behind the remaining three Bloks and took out two of them. The last one shot several lasers at me, I got hit in the arm then sliced the block down the center of the eye of XANA. I turned to see Odd destroy his Krab and Ulrich still fighting his. Ulrich saber was shot from his grip and Ulrich ran to the edge of the plateau where it had been knocked over to.. I ran towards the Krab as it prepared to fire laser at Ulrich. I jumped up ready to attack but it turned and shot me in the chest sending me to the ground.

I felt myself slip away as I saw Ulrich destroy the Krab. I awoke in the scanner and climbed out slowly. I walked over to the elevator, and pressed the button. Nothing happened. I walked over to the nearby ladder leading up to the Super Calculator room. I climbed up and found Jeremie, , Jim, the police, and Taelia. "And there's one of them!" Taelia said pointing at me. "They're trying to take over the world!" Jeremie turned to the computer and smiled, typing something then turning towards Taelia and the others again. "It's too bad you won't remember any of this." He said slyly. He pressed the enter key on the keyboard and a beam of white light engulfed us.

* * *

Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich and I walked into class once again. Everything was the same, except now we knew that the materialization program had failed and that Aelita, as far as we knew, was still trapped on Lyoko. Taelia approached as as we entered, "Hey Taelia." Odd said smiling at her. "Uhm, do I know you?" She asked. Odd looked at her confused. She walked away without another word and we laughed at Odds failure at remembering the return to the past and, technically, not having met Taelia yet.

 


	15. Chapter 13: Amnesia

The class was gathered around lab table waiting for her to explain the scientific device on the table. "This is a nano-sphere, it is used to create microscopic devices." Ms.Hertz explained lifting up the cover and revealing a gray substance. "That's strange; this one hasn't been cleaned properly. There's gelatin inside." She said perplexed.

"It looks like the greasy stuff Odd puts in his hair in the morning." Ulrich joked lightheartedly. I nudged Ulrich with my elbow and he smiled at me.

"Well, since you think you're so cleaver Ulrich, why don't you take a sample for us to examine?" She asked handing him a glass microscope slide. He took the slide and scooped up some of the gel. Ms.Hertz started to explain what it was that the gelatin was used for in the device.

"It looks and awful lot like jam." Ulrich said leaning in and sniffing it. Odd quickly pushed the back of Ulrichs head and Ulrich got the goop on his nose.

"Sorry Ulrich, good buddy. I couldn't resist." Odd said with a shrug.

Ulrich smirked at him, "I'll get you for that Odd." Everyone laughed at the two and I handed Ulrich a tissue to wipe the goop off with.

"Enough, this is a science class children, not a comedy club!" Ms.Hertz scolded. Just as she finished scolding the class the bell rang and everyone ran out of the classroom. Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, and I walked to our next class, Gym.

"This nano-technology is amazing! I'd love to work in a field like that someday." Jeremie said smiling dreamily.

"Good luck with that Einstein." Odd said shaking his head.

"I can barely handle learning about it n-ah!" Ulrich keeled over grabbing his head.

"Ulrich!" I yelled and we all ran over to Ulrich. I kneeled in front of him and grabbed onto his arms. He suddenly fell into me, making me fall over. I sat up and Ulrich was passed out on top of my legs. Jeremie and Odd helped get Ulrich up and I scrambled to my feet.

"We need to get him to the infirmary." I said putting one of his arms around my shoulders and Odd did the same on the other side. "Jeremie tell Jim where we are." I say as Odd and I began to walk to the unconscious Ulrich to the infirmary. When we arrived at the infirmary Yolanda Immediately helped us set Ulrich on one of the small beds in the room. After explaining what happened she looked concerned.

"Thank you for bringing him to me. I will take care of him. Now be on your way." She said shooing us. Odd and I walked back to the gym minds racing.

"Do you think Ulrich will be okay?" I asked as we neared the gymnasium.

Odd shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure, but I hope so." We entered the gymnasium and sat on the bleachers with Jeremie.

Jeremie turned to us, "How is he?" he asked. There was a mixture of worry and disillusion in his voice.

"We're not sure." I answered truthfully. For the rest of class we sat silently waiting for school to end. When the final bell rang we headed outside to the courtyard and waited for Ulrich. We waited at a nearby tree and Yumi soon joined us.

"Hey guys, I heard what happened to Ulrich. Is he okay?" She asked concerned.

"We're not sure." I replied. I looked around the courtyards and spotted Ulrich being dragged out of the infirmary building by Sissy, "Hey guys, why is Ulrich with Sissy?" I asked standing upright form my relaxed position against the base of the tree. Everyone looked over at the two who were now looking over at us and talking.

"Something's not right here." Odd said walking over to them. We all looked at one another and followed. "Hey Ulrich, you feeling better good buddy?" Odd asked putting a hand on Ulrichs shoulder.

"Who are you, huh? Leave me alone, creep." Ulrich said coldly. Odd removed his hand from Ulrichs shoulder, bewildered.

"Come on Ulrich, It's me. Odd?" Ulrich looked surprised by what he was hearing, but Sissy pulled him away.

"Can't you see he doesn't want to know you? So stay away from us. Understand?!" She dragged him over to Nicholas and Herb, leaving us baffled.

"What's the matter with him?" I asked looking at the others. Everyone shrugged and could only stare at the two from where we stood.

"He didn't recognize us?" I asked still confused. We watched Sissy drag him away yet again.

"Maybe it's amnesia." Jeremie suggested.

"I need to bring him back to his senses. Sissy and Ulrich, can you believe that? Yuck." Odd said making a sour face.

"I think we should go see what the nurse has to say." Yumi said.

"I'll go with Odd." I said and we followed Ulrich and Sissy into the park. I climbed up the tree Odd was hiding behind and watched the two.

"Here," Sissy said handing him a cookie. "You need the energy." He took it and bit into forcefully. "Ulrich, what does it feel like being with the prettiest girl in school?" Sissy asked scooting closer to him and batting her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes at her attempt at flirting.

"Well, to be honest? Nothing." He said blandly.

"What did you say?" Sissy said pulling away from him.

"What I mean is, you're not my type." He clarified and stood up.

"Well, at least he's not completely out of his mind yet." Odd joked. Ulrich turned around and spotted Odd. I hid in the tree and watched.

"Hey!" Ulrich yelled jumping over the bench, "What are you doing? Spying on me?" Ulrich asked clenching his fists.

"I was just-"

"Liar!" Ulrich shouted. I jumped out of the tree and in front of Ulrich, blocking him from Odd. He looked at me as though he had no clue who I was. He looked me over for a moment before stepping closer.

"Ulrich! What is wrong with you?!" I yelled at him.

"You two were spying on me! And now you're going to pay!" He said angrily.

"Ulrich stop! We're you're best friends!" I said putting my hands out trying to stop him.

Odd grabbed my arm, "Let's go." He said. I looked back at Ulrich who was now holding his head in his hands and then Odd pulled me away.

We ran back to the infirmary to catch up with Yumi and Jeremie. We met up with them outside of the infirmary. Odd stopped running and started panting. "He's definitely got amnesia. He almost attacked us." I said sadly.

"The nurse says it's like an epidemic." Yumi said crossing her arms.

"But, you don't just catch amnesia. Something's definitely wrong." Jeremie added looking at the marble floor.

"Maybe we should ask a doctor." I suggested.

"Too bad Nano-doctors haven't been invented yet." Odd said glumly.

"Nano-doctors." Jeremie said thinking. "Now I understand!" Jeremie said running away. Odd, Yumi and I looked at one another then ran after him. Jeremie lead us to the science room where was sitting at the lab table,passed out in her chair.

" ?!" Yumi said frightened. Jeremie picked up the glass slide form earlier today and put it under the microscope.

"What are those weird looking creatures?" Odd asked as Jeremie zoomed in on it. It came into focus and it had the eye of XANA on it.

"This is just what I was afraid of. XANA has created a Nano-virus that attacks memory cells." Jeremie explained.

"That means it is contagious." Yumi said shocked.

"This is bad. At the rate it's going the whole school could be infected by the end of the day." Jeremie said

"A world without memory." Odd said quietly.

"We need to go to the factory. Aelita might be in danger on Lyoko." Jeremie said.

"But what about Ulrich?" I asked sadly.

"The only way we can help him is if we deactivate the tower." Yumi said putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I nodded understandingly and we headed to the factory.

* * *

Odd, Yumi, and I entered the scanner. Jeremie would be sending us to Lyoko to search for the activated tower. We were searching the Ice Sector first.

"Are you guys ready for the North Pole?" Jeremie joked then started the sequence. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Anna. Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Anna. Virtualization." There was a cold rush of air then I was floating above the ice plains of the Ice Sector. I fell through the air and rolled onto the ground into standing position. "Take the access on your right." Jeremie informed us.

"Sure thing boss." Odd said then took off down the path with Yumi and I following behind. We entered a tunnel and ran through it trying not to slip on the ice. "Krab!" Odd yelled as he exited the tunnel. The Krab fired a laser and hit Yumi knocking her over. I kept running and pulled out my scythe I stood in front of Yumi, protecting her.

"Twenty life points left Yumi." Jeremie warned. The Krab tried to shoot me but I rolled beneath its legs and hid behind a wall of ice. "There's only one Krab and it's heading right for you Yumi!"

"It's okay. He just wants to play Hide And Seek. Playful Little beast." I could hear her say. Once Yumi finished off the Krab Odd and I ran over to her.

"Nice job Yumi." I praised.

"Two things guys, one: Aelita's waiting on the other side of the glacier."

"And two?" Odd asked raising and eyebrow.

"Two: Ulrich's on his way."

"Ulrich? I'll wait for him here. You two go ahead." I assured. Odd and Yumi took off leaving me to wait for Ulrich. I waited on top of a wall of ice while Jeremie virtualized him. I looked into the sky and saw the outline of a figure starting to appear. The figure fell to the ground and landed on their butt. I walked over. He was examining his new outfit and surroundings. I smiled "Welcome to the virtual world Ulrich."

He turned around startled. "What is this place? What are we here for?" He asked gesturing towards the surrounding area.

"To fight of course." I clarified.

"To fight? I don't know how to fight." He said confused.

"Trust me, you do. You've just forgotten. But, I'm here to refresh your memory." I said walking closer to him.

"I can't fight a girl." He said staring at me. I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sure you can." I said sweeping his legs out from under him, making him fall onto his back. I Jumped back onto the wall of ice and ran down the path, "Now follow me." I headed to the area where we met the Krab earlier. Ulrich caught up with me and drew his katana. He swung at me and I took out my scythe blocking his attacks.

He stopped abruptly, "You're just blocking all my blows. Why won't you fight back?"

"I don't want to hurt you too badly. Plus I have to save my strength for later." I clarified

"Why are there other levels?" He asked. "I like it here. It's like a videogame, but for real!" he said sheathing his katana.

"Yeah but now it's time to stop. Aelita, Odd, and Yumi need you." Jeremie said.

"huh? Who said that?" Ulrich asked looking around.

"Jeremie. Come on." I said taking off in the direction they went in earlier.

"Jeremie? that's a weird name for a girl, hey wait! Hold on! We haven't finished the game!" I heard Ulrich yell behind me.

I could see Odd, Yumi, and Aelita in the distance as well as two Krabs I slowed down a bit then was tackled to the ground. "Ha! I win! I win the game!" Ulrich said sitting in top of me. He unsheathed his katana and pointed it towards me.

"Yeah but you beat an ally." I said smiling broadly. "And now that you know who you're friends are, it's time to meet your enemies." I said grabbing his katana and making him sheath it. He got off of me and helped me up. I pointed at the two Krabs in the distance. "Those are Krabs. They're bad guys. You kill them by hitting the symbol on their shell that looks like an eye." I explained to him. "The rest can wait to be explained, but right now we need to save Odd, Yumi, and Aelita now."  
"Okay." He said and we headed towards the two Krabs. We attacked the monsters but we both missed and narrowly avoided being hit by lasers. We passed Yumi and she turned around.

"Ulrich?" She said and was hit by a laser, getting sent back to the real world.

"Whoa, what happened to her?" Ulrich asked still battling the Krab.

"Nothing serious. But we need to protect Aelita." Odd said from behind us. Then, without warning Odd was devirtualized too.

I ran over to Ulrich but was shot in the back by a laser, and I fell to the ground. "Jeremie hang on!" Ulrich yelled killing the last Krab then running over.

I flipped from my back onto my feet and threw my scythe at one of the Krabs, hitting the eyes of XANA and killing it. "Jeremie? I'm Anna!" I said grabbing my scythe. We both faced the Krab "Here we go." I said readying my scythe. We attacked at the same time killing making the Krab explode.

"Great job you guys. You make an awesome team." Jeremie complimented. I looked over at Ulrich and saw him blushing slightly. I felt my cheeks get warm and realized I was blushing as well.

I looked over at Ulrich who was smiling at me. "You okay Ulrich?" I asked walking closer to him.

"Perfect." He said grabbing my hand and pulling me forward.

"Do you remember now?" I asked looking into his eyes.

"Yeah." He said smiling broadly. We both leaned in, but we were interrupted by a bright flash of light.


	16. Chapter 14: Laughing Fit

Ms. Hertz sat at her desk laughing uncontrollably while trying to teach the lesson for the day.

"I've never seen her laugh so much." Jeremie whispered to Odd concerned.

"You're telling me, I've never seen her laugh at all!" Odd said equally worried. I watched as she tried to continue the lesson but her laughter was getting in the way.

"The gas I've just inhaled, in a small quantity, is called Nitrous Oxide or N2O for those of you interested in chemistry of course-"She broke in to another fit of laughter before continuing with the lesson, "It is better known as laughing gas."

The laughter fits began to get louder and more drawn out but seemed intent on finishing the lesson as quickly as possible. "You can see why this gas is sometimes used in hospitals-" Another fit and she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

It was almost comical to watch. "To sometimes subdue the patients that are being operated on." And yet again another fit of laughter echoed from her mouth and the class just watched as the teacher laughed.

"Not a bad idea. There nothing like a laughing attack after an appendix attack." Odd joked.

just smiled at the class like a loon before continuing, "Let's try to stay serious. This gas can be highly toxic and can provoke very serious modifications in perception as well as lesions in the nervous system." She spoke quickly; trying to complete the lesson before her laughter completely took over.

"It can sometimes even be fatal. As the saying goes you could literally 'die laughing'!" She said breaking into, yet again, another laughter fit. "Only one thing can neutralize the gas," She said picking up her water bottle form her desk.

"Water, all you need is one drop to volatilize it." She screwed of the lid to her water bottle and took a large swig of the clear liquid. "Enough of that get out a sheet of paper for a surprise quiz." She said setting the water back in its original spot on her desk.

There was a cacophony of groans from the class before a series of rustling and a series of students complaining. I did as I was told and realized that this class was going to be longer than usual.

After class Odd, Jeremie, Ulrich and I found Yumi sulking on one of the benches by the administration building. "She's been sulking like that for two days. Nothing seems to cheer her up." I said watching the raven-haired girl.

"I could try some of my jokes on her. That might do the trick." Odd said turning to Ulrich and giving him a goofy smile.

"I'm not saying you don't have a good sense of humor Odd, but I'm going to talk to her." Ulrich said walking over to Yumi.

"DO you think Ulrich will manage to get her to smile?" Jeremie asked moving to the spot Ulrich was previously standing in.

"Yeah, as sure as Julia Roberts is going to call and invite me out to dinner." Odd joked solemnly.

"Yeah, I think you're right. She seems really down." I added watching the two.

Yumi turned to face Ulrich and glared at him. She said something and he only smiled at her half-heartedly. She ignored him and walked off. Then as soon as Yumi was gone Sissy stepped in, and I walked over Jeremie and Odd following behind me carefully.

"Not all girls are like Yumi." Sissy said attempting to flirt with Ulrich yet again.

"Yeah that's a shame." I heard him say and I stopped right where I was standing. Ulrich walked off towards the dorms but Sissy wouldn't let him get away.

"Hey wait! Are you coming to the rehearsal tomorrow?" She asked falling into step beside him. Their voices were growing softer so Odd and Jeremie dragged me along, forcing me to walk behind the two.

"Yeah I'll be there, but not for you. It's for Odd." Ulrich clarified. He was beginning to get angry at the persistent girl as they walked.

"For your information it's thanks to me that Odd's playing the music!"

"Uh huh" Ulrich responded barely listening to the girl.

"And if you want to be part of the play, Romeo is ideal for you." Sissy suggested with a smirk.

"And I would suppose that you, of course, are Juliet?" He inquired looking at her.

"Yes, that's perfect casting, don't you think?" She said batting her eyelashes.

"Well, it's a perfect reason for me **not** to play Romeo." Ulrich responded and walked faster leaving behind a dumbfounded Sissy.

We stopped just behind Sissy and Odd bumped into her slightly, hitting her back. Sissy whipped around glared at us. Before she could think of a witty comment about Odd being clumsy she noticed that I had my head down. And that's when it clicked.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me over, "Shoo you two. I need to talk to Anna." She said waving Jeremie and Odd away. The two looked at me and I shrugged, "Go on now! Shoo!" She said pushing the two away.

"Anna, I couldn't help but notice how you and those two seemed to be eavesdropping on mine and Ulrichs conversation. I bet you heard what he said. You know, about how other girls can't be like his beloved Yumi." She said venomously.

"Girls like us are just left in the dust. I know its hard liking someone that will never like you back" That when my heart split into two. I felt like I was going to be sick. But the reality was she was right. He cares about Yumi. Not me or Sissy or any other girl at Kadic. Just Yumi.

"But you get used to it." She continued "He may be your friend but he won't like you anymore than that. It's obvious that you like him, but it's time to move on." She stopped walking and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged it off and walked to the dorms. 'I need time to think. After everything that's happened. It never meant anything?' I sighed and heard two sets of footsteps behind me. Odd and Jeremie now walked on either side of me.

"Anna what happened?" Jeremie asked concerned. I didn't respond I only continued to walk while staring at my feet.

"Anna." Odd said forcefully. He grabbed me by the shoulders. "What did Sissy say?" I lifted my head to see his cognac brown eyes staring at me.

"Nothing important, don't worry about it." I said looking at the ground again. I walked away leaving the two confused.

I lie on my bed staring up at the ceiling. 'How could I be so dumb? He probably never liked me from the beginning. I wonder how I could have been so clueless. It's obvious that all those times we almost…..were something were just in my head. He never tried to kiss me. It's all in my head.'

I pull my mobile out of my pocket and look at the screensaver. It was a group picture. Odd and Kiwi were on the end, Odd was holding Kiwi and Kiwi was licking Jeremies face. Jeremie and Yumi were next, Jeremie was laughing and yet he looked surprised that Kiwi had licked him.

Yumi was smiling and Ulrich and I were next to her. My arm was looped with Ulrichs and we had our heads together almost like a couple. I sighed and dropped my phone on the floor next to my bed.

'Why do I have to be reminded of my mistakes? We all look so happy in that picture. How long ago was it taken? It feels like years, but it was only from four days ago. Not even a week.'

I shifted my position so that my face was in my pillow. 'Why am I so dumb?' I think as I start to drift to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I groggily sat up and searched for my phone. After a moment or so I remembered it falling on the floor and I jumped off my bed and picked it up.

The caller ID read 'Ulrich' with a picture of him smiling. I pressed the green answer button and put the receiver to my ear.

"Hello?" I said trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Hey Anna, are you still coming to the play? I'm not sure if Odd is going to do the music anymore because Sissy got mad at him, but Yumi and I are in it now and I wanted to see if you were still coming."

I could feel my heartbeat quicken, 'He still wants me to go…I should they're my friends and I should support them. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Okay, the show starts at 7 O'clock. And remember be formal."

"Okay. Good luck Ulrich. Oh, and tell Yumi I said good luck as well."

"Okay. See you at the show."

"Bye."

"C'ya"

I hung up the phone and sat down on my bed. What a day this is turning out to be. I checked the time on my alarm clock, 5:26. I had about an hour and a half until the show started. That was plenty of time for me to get ready.

I walked over to the small dresser on the far side of my armor and pulled open the bottom drawer. This is where I kept all of my clothes for special occasions. I only had three pieces of clothing inside.

A black dress that reached just below my knees with three-quarter length sleeves, a pale green sundress that reached my knees with spaghetti straps and a black miniskirt that I was forced to bring by my older sister.

She claimed that 'The boys would be all over you if you bothered to dress like a girl.' And 'You are taking it because you are going to look nice.' She packed it, not me.

Of course I was going to bother to tell her that I most likely wasn't going to wear it. But she doesn't listen.

I grabbed the black dress assuming it would be formfitting for the occasion. I set the dress on the bed and walked over to a small bin where I kept my shoes, all four pairs of them. I had my gray converse, my white ballet flats, black strap sandals, and my pointe shoes.

I grabbed the sandals and set them next to the bed. 'This should look nice, right?' I think as I look for something to accommodate the outfit. I headed over to a small jewelry box that I kept on my nightstand and opened it.

Two necklaces, a ring, and a pair of matching bracelets greeted me. I grabbed the silver necklace that adorned a silver and onyx heart on it. I took of my green necklace and replaced it with the silver one.

Next I took of my bracelets and put on the matching bracelets. I smiled; they used to belong to my great grandmother. She said they would bring me luck.

I walked into the auditorium and passed Principal Delmas as I entered. He smiled and shook my hand. "Nice to see you're here to support your friends ."

I smiled at the principal. "Yep, I would do anything for my friends." I reply then walk to an empty seat in the front row.

A few minutes passed and I decided to head over to the concession stands for a bottle of water. Jim smiled at me, "I'm glad to see some students at this school have an appreciation for the fine arts." He praised and handed me my bottle of water.

I headed back inside just as the lights in the house went down. The stage lit up and Ulrich walked out form the wings. I couldn't help but smile as he fumbled over his lines.

Ulrich looked up at the balcony, "I-uh I don't know if she will appear tonight at her- uh balcony. I'm-huh?" He froze and started to move closer to the balcony, he appeared to be reading a paper tacked to the prop.

"Does she-um-What does it say?! Oh! Does she love me? I think she does!" He said turning to the audience. He turned around and read it again, "Enter Guard? What-Oh! Guard-uh- a guard?!" He looked around and then quickly hid behind a fake bush.

Yumi then walked out from the wings dressed in a guards costume and I couldn't help but snicker a little. She looked ridiculous. Sissy probably put her up to it. Yumi exited the stage and Ulrich came out of the bushes hesitantly.

"At last you are here, you who is so fair." Ulrich said to Sissy who smiled dreamily at him. Ulrich sounded like he was going to gag.

"Oh Romeo you are my bow. Oh Romeo carameo, amore a meo." Sissy said happily. Suddenly I couldn't help but laugh. I burst out laughing followed by Ulrich then the rest of the audience.

I couldn't control myself; it was as though I was being controlled. I feel out of my seat from laughing so hard.

"Someone help them, that's not normal! They're going to choke!" Yumis mother exclaimed. Yumi came out form the wings a small paper cup in her hand.

"What is going on?" She asked Sissy who was complaining on the balcony.

"I don't know but they're ruining my play!" She replied grabbing a bottle of water and walking over to Ulrich, who was rolling around on the stage laughing.

"I know how to fix this." She said unscrewing the cap and pouring the water on his head. Ulrichs topped laughing but I couldn't I felt myself gasping for air but I couldn't breathe, it was impossible.

"What happened? It was like I was being controlled." Ulrich said standing up.  
"What are you talking about?" Yumis dad asked confused.

I continued to laugh and gasp for air at the same time, letting out a choking sound.

"Sissy give me that." Ulrich said reaching for the water bottle.

She snatched it away with a glare, "You could say please!"

He glared back and held out his hand, "Sissy, give me the bottle, would ya?! And hurry up!" She handed him the bottle and I watched him run over to me. Tears streaked down my face form the laughter and the lack of oxygen.

I felt him pour the water on my face and I gasped for air. "Anna, are you okay?" he asked kneeling down to me. Suddenly Ulrich was laughing again and then Yumi and me. We were all rolling on the ground laughing. I couldn't control it and I gasped for air as I laughed.

I felt myself stop moving as I laughed and all that came out of my body was short spurts of air. I felt myself slowly losing consciousness. Suddenly a bright light appeared and I knew everything would be alright.

"You're kidding right? I am never putting that costume on again!" Yumi said sitting on the bench yet again.

"Well, at least we know how to get your folks back together."Jeremie said smiling.

"Fine I'll do it. But only if one of you do the play too." Yumi said glaring at us.

I sighed and looked at the group, "I'll do it." I said shaking my head.

"What part will you play?" Odd asked confused.

"I have an idea." Jeremie announced with a smile. "Ulrich, I'm sorry but you will have to sacrifice yourself again." Ulrich sighed and agreed to do it.

"This way we can see you as Romeo!" Odd chimed in excitedly.

"Let's face it; a nice laughing fit is good for you from time to time." Jeremie said smugly.

"Yeah, now what's this plan of yours Einstein?" I asked curiously.

I hid behind the fake bush and whispered Ulrich his next line, "And I know I love her very much! Oh no, a guard" He repeated the line but louder and I smiled as he looked at me with genuine thanks then hid behind the bush with me.

Yumi came out form the wing and the audience cheered and hollered for a few moments. Ulrich and I looked over the prop slightly to see Yumis parents sitting together smiling and hugging affectionately.

"Mission accomplished." I whispered to him. He turned to me and smiled. 'If only he knew what I thought about him.' I think and then he's back on stage.

After the final scene of the play all of the actors, including myself came out to take our bows. I stood next to Ulrich and Sissy stood on the other side of him, we all grabbed hands and bowed. I couldn't help but smile as I watched Odd and Jeremie cheer from the front of the audience.

Out of the corner of my eye I watched Yumi as she smiled broadly at her parents, who were hugging each other and cheering for their daughter.

After bows we all got off the stage and got ready to exit the auditorium. The group of Lyoko warrior came together for a group hug and Yumi had the most sincere smile on her face.

"Thanks you guys. I couldn't have done it without your help." She said then walked off with her parents.

We all stood around talking about the play, "I can't believe it worked. Oh and by the way, good job you two. I know I've probably said it before but you two make a great team." Jeremie said and with that he and Odd walked off.

I felt my face get hot and I could tell my cheeks were probably a deep crimson color. I looked over at Ulrich who as smiling at me, his cheeks stained pink. "He's right you know." He said moving slightly closer to me.

"We do make a great team." He looked at me with his forest green eyes. 'Wow, I am clueless. It doesn't matter if he won't ever like me back. All that matters is if he's happy. If he's happy, then so am I.'

"We should head to the dorms." I said making him look at me in surprise.

"Oh, yeah, you're right." He said. We both started walking back to the dorms in silence. As we passed the forest Ulrich suddenly stopped.

"Anna, can I tell you something?" He asked turning to me.

"Of course you can Ulrich." I said turning to face him.

"I've been trying to do this for a while but every time I seem to get cut off by something or someone, but this time I have to do it." I stared at him confused.

'Wait….if this is going where I think it is….then Sissy….lied…Wait of course she lied! It's Sissy, why did I believe her in the first place?!'

"Anna. I really-uh-well I really" he took a deep breath and continued "Anna I-"

-End of Chapter-


	17. Chapter 15: It All Comes Together

We all stood around talking about the play, "I can't believe it worked. Oh and by the way, good job you two. I know I've probably said it before but you two make a great team." Jeremie said and with that he and Odd walked off.

I felt my face get hot and I could tell my cheeks were probably a deep crimson color. I looked over at Ulrich who was smiling at me, his cheeks stained pink. "He's right you know." He said moving slightly closer to me. "We do make a great team." He looked at me with his forest green eyes.

'Wow, I am clueless. It doesn't matter if he won't ever like me back. All that matters is if he's happy. If he's happy, then so am I.'

"We should head to the dorms." I said making him look at me in surprise.

"Oh, yeah, you're right." He said. We both started walking back to the dorms in silence. As we passed the forest Ulrich suddenly stopped. "Anna, can I tell you something?" He asked turning to me.

"Of course you can Ulrich." I said turning to face him.

"I've been trying to do this for a while but every time I seem to get cut off by something or someone, but this time I have to do it." I stared at him confused.

'Wait….if this is going where I think it is….then Sissy….lied…Wait of course she lied! It's Sissy, why did I believe her in the first place?!'

"Anna. I really-uh-well I really" he took a deep breath and continued "Anna I-" he hesitated for a moment then grabbed both of my hands. I felt my face heat up and my heart started to beat faster. I knew what was coming, but it all felt so surreal. He gave me a genuine smile and let out a shaky breath. "Anna, I really, really, like you. Will you-uhm-go out with me?" He looked into my eyes and I stood there for a moment-stunned.

Before I could start to think clearly my heart took a chance "Of course."I said smiling broadly. He smiled back and hugged me. It was a hug that was forceful yet loving. He pulled away and lifted my chin and leaned in I started to lean in but stopped when I heard a few whistles and cheers from behind us.

We both whipped around and took a defensive stance, Ulrich lunged and reached for his saber and I reached for my scythe and got ready to teleport. I glared when I saw Nicholas, Herb, Sissy, Millie, and Timiya. Tamiya had her digital camera aimed at us but we had luckily moved before he could take the picture.

"Dang it!" Millie said exasperated, "That would have been the scoop of the month!" Millie said upset. Although most of them seemed upset for not having gotten the picture, Sissy on the other hand seemed furious, but for another reason. Sissy started to say something to us, but I grabbed Ulrichs hand and bolted.

"I think we should go." I said as we got away.

"Yeah." He agreed.

when we got far enough we slowed down and we walked towards the dorms hand in hand.

"How long until curfew?" I asked.

Ulrich pulled out his mobile and checked the time "We have about an hour until curfew." he said smiling.

"So…" I wasn't sure how to approach my next thought, but lately it seemed my mind and body weren't cooperating well. "how long have you….liked me?" I asked leading him to a nearby tree and leaning against it.

He blushed and tensed up slightly, "Oh. Uh well….I've actually liked you since maybe….a little under a month since I met you…." he trailed off.

"R-really?" I was shocked, he'd liked me….longer than I had liked him? How had I not noticed? I am clueless.

"Yeah." he said a little more confidently "How long have you..you know...liked me?"

Now it was my turn to blush, "Well….I've liked you for longer than I realized. I don't know when I realized I liked you...but I'm happy I did." I said smiling up at him

He smiled back at me and started to lean in, I followed his actions and leaned, our lip were about to connect when I felt my phone go off in my back pocket. I inwardly groaned when Ulrich stopped and pulled away, blushing. I quickly pulled out my phone and answered it, my facing growing warm all the while.

"H-hello?"

"Anna! It's Jeremie, is Ulrich with you? Odd said he wasn't in the dorm….so I just assum-"

"Yeah he's with me, why?" I cut him off my blush deepening.

"I have big news. Hurry and get to the factory."

"Okay we'll be there right there." I said hanging up the phone and turning to a confused, yet still slightly blushing, Ulrich.

"Who was that?"

"Jeremie, he said to meet at the factory. He said he had news." He nodded understandingly and we walked to the factory. Somewhere along the way our hands had found each other and our fingers became interlocked.

When we reached the elevator that led to the Super Calculator Room Ulrich stopped.

"What's wrong?" I asked confused.

"Do you want to tell them...I mean about us...I mean I want to...I just, I want to make sure you are ready to tell them….I mean Odd and Yumi, they- I don't think they'll exactly be ecstatic about us." He said looking at his shoes.

I had almost completely forgotten about the others reaction to...us...I knew that Yumi was almost completely over Ulrich…..but what about Odd? How would her react? I know he likes me….

"I- I think we should wait to tell them. Yumi likes William now...but Odd….Odd- he still likes me Ulrich. I- I want to tell them but for Odds sake...we should wait." Ulrich nodded understandingly and entered the elevator, releasing my hand. I followed and pressed the button. "Ulrich?" I asked almost in a whisper as the door closed.

"Yeah?" he asked turning to me.

"Maybe….maybe we should...wait...to be in a relationship….you know...until Odd...Finds someone else or something. I- I don't feel comfortable knowing how much it will hurt him to see us together….that's how I felt when I liked you….and how you would always be with Yumi. I know how it feels….it hurts your heart and it cause a pain that is almost unbearable, I don't want him to have to go through that. Is that okay? If we just….stay friends for a while? For Odds sake?" By the time I had finished speaking the elevator had stopped and the doors were opening.

He was quiet for a moment before responding "Okay. I can wait to be with you. I'll wait as long as it takes, and if it takes forever…..then...I'll wait….forever." He said smiling at me and turning to the elevator doors that were now open.

"There you are! Finally!" Jeremie said from within the Super Calculator Room. "Hurry up!"

Ulrich and I looked at one another and jogged over to where Jeremie, Odd, and Yumi were waiting. Jeremie sat at the Supercomputers chair while Odd and Yumi sat on one of the raised areas of the floor across from the Supercomputer.

"So what's the big news Einstein?" Odd asked moving to the floor and resting his back on the raised part of the floor.

"Okay, so you all know that for a while now I've been trying to find a way to convert binary encoded DNA from pixels into artificial human genomes that can develop and maintain homeostasis in order to properly become part of our society?" Jeremie said quickly.

We all stared at the genius who looked at us expectantly. Although I couldn't understand what he meant I could see a gleam of happiness in his eyes.

"What?" Odd said confused "Would you mind translating that into English Jeremie?"

Jeremie sighed and that gleam spread to the rest of his features, he smiled and jumped out of his chair "I finally completed my program to materialize Aelita!"

The monitor behind Jeremie came to life and revealed Our favorite pink haired elf, Aelita. "Surprise!" She said happily.

"Wait, are you serious?!" Yumi asked jumping up.

Jeremie nodded happily "I have the documents we forged for Aelita and I called Principal Delmas this morning. I told him she would be arrive at Kadic in about a week and that she and Anna were sisters." He explained to us.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Odd asked. Let's do this!" He said jumping up and pumping his fist in the air.

"Okay, let me type in the commands and set them on a timer." He said typing quickly. "Aelita, are you ready?" he asked smiling up at her.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She responded happily.

The rest of us piled into the elevator and Jeremie hit enter and ran to us. Odd hit the elevator button and the doors closed with an audible whoosh. We rode the elevator to the floor below and when the door opened it revealed that the center pod was closed and gave off a slight glow.

We gathered around the pod and waited for what seemed like an eternity until the pod opened with a flash of white light and plumes of smoke. As the smoke dissipated we could see a small figure lying on the floor of the figure was the of a girl. The girl had bright pink hair, a yellow tank top with a pink camisole over it, with a black skirt, and white flats. She sat up and Jeremie helped her out of the pod. She weakly stood and when she finally had enough strength she hugged Jeremie. She went around hugging everyone, coming to me last.

She approached me slowly, she appeared at least two inches shorter than me. She hugged me and when she pulled away she looked into my eyes with her emerald green ones and my head started to hurt, I grabbed my head and closed my eyes.

Although my eyes were closed I could still see, but what I saw was not my friends or the scanner room. I saw a young woman with pink hair and golden yellow eyes holding a red haired and purple eyed baby about one or two years old. The woman stood next to a man with graying hair, a beard, glasses, and green eyes. The setting seemed to be that of a cabin somewhere in the snow. A young girl,close to the age of five or six, ran over to the woman, she had pink hair and green eyes.

"Mommy?" the little girl asked sweetly.

"Yes honey?" the woman responded happily.

"Can I see Elia?"

"Of course." The woman said bending over slightly to hold the baby towards the girl.

The girl smiled broadly, "I love you Elia-Ann." she said kissing the child's forehead.

Suddenly a black car pulled up to the house, tires screeching as it came to a hard stop in the snow.

"Franz." The woman said turning to the man, fear in her golden yellow eyes.

Several men in black suits exited the car and ran towards the once happy family.

"Run! Take Aelita and Elia!" She said pushing the girl towards the man, but before she could hand him the child she was apprehended. "Run!" she screamed and the man took the pink haired girl and escaped. The woman and the infant were both taken to the car, screaming and crying along the way.

I opened my eyes to find that I had fallen to the floor in the midst of my vision.

"Anna?!" several voices called out as I opened my eyes.

I looked at the faces before me. My friends stood around me, confused and worried. Everyone helped me to my feet and Aelita steadied me.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Aelita asked worriedly.

I looked at Aelita for a moment and the pink haired girl appeared in her place. I blinked and an older version of the girl stood before me and in an instant it all came together.

"What's my name?" I asked looking in her eyes.

"Elia-Ann." She responded without hesitation and we both gasped.

"I thought your name was Anna?" Odd said confused.

"I don't-I've never heard that name- how did I….how did I know that name?" Aelita asked confused.

"Aelita. I- I think….I think were….sisters."

A/N Wow, that was a hard chapter to get out, it took me like four hours-breaks included of course. I think Jeremies explanation for materializing Aelita was the most intelligent sentence I've ever written in my entire life! Anyway, I hope you all like the story so far!


	18. Chapter 16: As The Curtain Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning if you are affected by depressing themes or actions read this chapter at your own risk

"Aelita. I- I think….I think we're….sisters."

"I- but that can't be.." Aelita's green eyes were clouded by confusion.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what are you two going on about? We can hardly keep up." Odd looked at me then at Aelita.

"This-this can't be real. There's no way." I said shaking my head.

"Anna, what happened just then, before you fell? You started mumbling and you eyes practically rolled to the back of your head and you fell. Did you have a vision of sorts?" Jeremie questioned stepping forward from the group.

"I-I think so. But it wasn't really a vision….it was more like a memory."

"Could you tell us what it was? It might be easier to explain what happened."

I nodded then recounted my memory, shivering slightly at the end. When I finished everyone was silent, mulling over the story in their heads.

It was a few minutes before anyone spoke up, "Anna I think you might be a little delusional. Before I materialized Aelita she was nothing more than an artificial intelligence program created to protect Lyoko form Xana. I highly doubt she was ever truly human, no offence Aelita, but it's the only logical conclusion."T

Aelita was silent for a moment, "It's alright Jeremie. But you are correct. I have never, till now, been a true person. The earliest memories I have are from when Jeremie restarted the supercomputer. I'm sorry Anna."

I stood there for a moment, confusion clouded my thoughts. I shook my head then rubbed my temples.

"Then what did I see?"

"When induced with copious amounts of stress the brain can create what we perceive as memories but are really thoughts and ideas manifesting into a sort of daydream." Jeremie explained.

I shrugged, "I guess. Sorry about that you guys. I'm going to head back to my room. See ya." I hurriedly got into the elevator and headed to the main floor of the factory and ran back to Kadic.

When I reached my room I locked the door and sat on my bed with my back against the wall, knees to my chest.

'What is going on? What did I see, and was it even real? Ugh what is happening to me? I must be recovering from last week when I was handling the spectre. I guess some sleep shouldn't do any harm.' I laid down on my bed, pulled the blankets over me and descended into sleep.

_Snow. A cabin. Two little kids. A family. Happiness and fun. Then suddenly danger. Men in black. Screaming. A torn apart family._

I woke up with sweat drenching my body and my heart pounding.

'What is going on? I can't stop seeing this same vision over and over again. I can't do this. I'm going to the factory.'

I jumped out of bed, threw on my clothes from earlier that day, and threw my hair into a bun. I checked my digital clock before I left, 1:30 am.

'No one should be out, I'll run anyways, just in case.'

I snuck out of my dorm room and onto the main part of campus then booked it to the forest. Something felt wrong, but I couldn't quite place it.

When I made it to the Super Calculator room I practically jumped onto Jeremie's chair. I needed to go to Lyoko, something was telling me to, but what? I grabbed the book Jeremie made for us just in case anything happened to him and he couldn't be here to start the virtualization process. I skimmed the book until I found what I was looking for then typed in the code and headed down to the scanner room.

When I got there a scanner was open and waiting for me. I stepped in and waited for the process to begin. There was a few moments of nothing then the pod scanned me and air began to rush through and I closed my eyes it and suddenly I felt as though I was floating. I opened my eyes and saw the forest sector of Lyoko spread out before me. I floated for a second then fell into a crouching position on the floor.

I stood up and looked around, 'There shouldn't be any enemies I'm pretty sure Xanas asleep.' I walked around the sector, taking everything in. The large trees and shrubbery were actually beautiful. I walked until I reached a waytower. I brushed my fingers along the base of the tower and watched it ripple under my fingertips.

I walked behind it and sat on the edge of the world dangling my feet above the digital sea, unafraid to fall in. I sighed and looked around into the vastness of this world. 'What is happening to me? It's so dangerous for me to be here, so why am I? How did I end up here? Every mission I've been on on Lyoko I've gotten someone hurt, including myself. They could do so much better without me.' I looked into the digital sea and moved my feet around a little.

'They won't even notice I'm gone.' I pushed myself closer to the edge and let out a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I love you guys." I said aloud then pushed myself off the edge of the floating land mass. I free fell for a few seconds before I hit the sea below me. It felt cool, but it was hard to move around in. Soon I was overwhelmed with the feeling of my legs disappearing, slowly.

I soon realized that it was getting harder for me to breathe, like I was choking. My body felt like it was weightless as I disappeared and my eyes began to close. Just before they closed I saw a pink orb shaped thing swim around me and push me upwards slightly. My eyes shut before I could decipher what was happening and everything was still and darkness consumed me.


	19. Chapter 17: Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The trigger warning from the previous chapter is also continued here, please do not continue if you know it will affect you negatively. Thanks loves.

Whispers surrounded me in the darkness, whispers of banal things that I couldn't quite comprehend. The whispers soon grew louder and louder and I soon realized they were only saying one thing: "Anna! Please wake up Anna!"

The voices sounded so familiar but so far off. 'Why can't they just leave me in my peaceful place of death?' that's when I realized, I couldn't be dead if I could still think and breathe and….oh my god.. I was alive.

My eyes shot open and I sat up breathing heavily. I looked at the faces before me, Aelita, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich sat around me. We were inside of a waytower on Lyoko, but how? My actions from earlier flooded my mind and eyes began to prick with tears and suddenly I was bawling my eyes out.

"Anna? Oh my gosh!" Aelita pulled me into a comforting hug and let me cry. When I began to calm down my throat was sore and my eyes were dry.

"Anna what happened? How did you get to Lyoko? We thought you went missing!" Jeremie exclaimed.

A shiver ran down my spine, "We-well I… I kept having the vision over and over again and it kept getting worse. I didn't know what to do. I was restless. So, I uh came to the factory and came to Lyoko." I didn't want to tell them everything just yet.

"Why didn't you tell anyone? We could've helped you. You know how dangerous Lyoko is when no one is here! Xana could've launched an attack! Or you could've fallen into the Digital Sea! Or or-" Ulrich ranted then Yumi cut him off.

"But she didn't. She's right here. Safe and sound. Okay Ulrich?" He let out a shaky breath and nodded.

"What happened to you? How did you end up here?" Odd asked tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.

My breath hitched in my throat as I tried to come up with a seeming legitimate response. "I was tired and decided to nap in the waytower." it seemed viable but no doubt they would see through it.

"Anna, you were missing for two days. You can't expect us to believe that, can you?" Aelita said putting a hand on my shoulder sympathetically.

I spluttered for a moment then hung my head in shame. When they realized I was unable to give a response Odd and Aelita grabbed my arms, pulling me up as Ulrich and Yumi steadied me.

"I'm sorry." was all I could say in response.

"It's okay, let's just get you guys home." Jeremie said sounding less angry.

There was a few moments of silence then the sound of Jeremie being confused.

"Something wrong Einstein?" Ulrich asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. It won't let me access Anna's Lyoko data."

"Huh? What do you mean Jeremie?" Aelita asked concern showing on her voice.

There was the sound of Jeremie typing and clicking furiously then a disgruntled shout. "It keeps telling me that her data is corrupted! How could this have happened? If I can't access that data then Anna can't come back to Earth!" There was silence as what Jeremie said sank in.

"So I'm stuck here?" I asked incredulously

There was a frustrated sigh then more typing ensued, this time more frantic.

I sank to my knees and sat there, everyone joining me soon after.. 'This can't be happening. There's no way. How could I be so stupid? Really messed up this time. I should've died down there, not come back and caused this mess.'

"Did anything else happen Anna? Anything at all? I need to know why your data is corrupted or I won't be able to fix it." Jeremie said sounding exasperated.

"I-well-" I recounted the story of my attempted suicide and felt all eyes on me. The silence was deafening when I finished. I let out a shaky sigh and kept my eyes on my hands that lay in my lap. A porcelain white hand reached over and took my left hand, I looked up to see Yumi fighting back tears. Another hand reached for my right, this one a fleshy pink, and I looked over to see tears streaming down Aelita's face. We sat in a circle everyone's hands joined together, their faces each an array of different emotions.

Jeremie cleared his throat, "I can't recover anything. You must not have been in there long enough to fully destroy your code but long enough to corrupt the data passed recovery. I'm honestly not sure if I will be able to recover any of your data Anna, but I will try my hardest."

"So what do we do now? What happens to me?" I was scared and they knew it. It could be heard in my voice.

"I guess you'll just have to stay on Lyoko until we figure something out. I'm sorry Anna." Jeremie said sounding upset.

"Alone?" I asked afraid.

"I'm afraid so. None of us can afford to stay on Lyoko, it'd be too suspicious. Aelita definitely can't, Xana will try to nab her every chance he gets. I'm sorry Anna. Maybe I can work on a sort of companion program, something to keep you company until we get your code fixed?" he suggested.

I nodded, "I suppose that will be fine. But what if Xana attacks while I'm here alone?"

"Stay in the waytowers and go from sector to sector if you have to and contact me through my laptop if you need to."

"You'll be fine." Ulrich said reaching a hand out and putting it on my shoulder. I only nodded in response.

"It's time to bring you guys back in, it's getting late." Jeremie said. "I'll bring Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich is first. Is that okay Odd?"

"Sure thing Einstein."

Everyone stood up as Jeremie brought them in. When the three disappeared Odd immediately pulled me into a hug holding my head against his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Anna. You should never have to go through something like that. Ever." His legs began to devirtualize and he pulled my chin up to him. "I won't ever let you hurt like that again, okay?" He pulled my face to his, pushing our lip together as his head devirtualized.

I opened my eyes to see nothing but the walls of the waytower. I slumped to the floor head in my hands.

"We'll see you soon Anna. Goodnight." Jeremie's microphone was then turned off and just like that I was alone again.


	20. Chapter 18: A Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, while writing this chapter I remembered that I had pre written chapters 1-19 way back when I first started this fic and I strayed from that to try and add some character development and such which took it away from the path I wanted to initially take with this story, so because of this some chapters will not coincide with chronology of the series. This does however mean I am going to try to update more because I really don’t want to abandon this story like I almost have. Sorry for the long author’s note I hope you enjoy the chapter! ~Ash
> 
> Also trigger warning because of dark themes

**** ‘Why did this have to happen? Why do I have to be so stupid? Ugh this all my fault!’ I slammed my fist on the floor of the waytower. ‘I need to find a way to fix this.’

 

I stood up and looked up at the upper floor of the waytower and I began to float to the higher platform. I stepped onto the platform and it lit up in a white symbol of Xana began to glow on the floor. I walked over to the far end and a screen came up. I pressed on it and sifted through the data understanding very little of what I read. 

 

I stood there and continued to go through the data for what seemed like hours until I came up fruitless. Since I had very little understanding of computer terminology and programming this wasn’t all that surprising. 

 

I sat on the floor cross-legged and watched the data flow around the walls of the tower. It was amazing how this world was created based off of someone’s imagination and handiwork with a computer.

 

‘I wonder what time it is. It’s impossible to tell while I’m trapped here.’

 

The screen opened up and began to pulse with light ever so slightly. Startled I stood up and looked it over. The words “Connecting…” flashed across the screen for several seconds, faded to black, then the faces of my friends appeared.

 

“Anna!” They cried in unison, everyone was smiling and talking.

 

I laughed, “Hi guys.”

 

“How are you?” Aelita asked pushing her way more towards, what I assumed was, Jeremies laptop camera.

 

“I’m alright. A bit lonely though.” 

 

“I’d figured as much. Unlike Aelita you can’t read through and decipher data so there isn’t really much for you to do.” Jeremie said adjusting his glasses. “No offense of course.”

“It’s alright, I know I can’t.” I said shrugging.

 

“Well, the reason we called was to tell you that Einstein here is working on a program to keep you company until we can get you back to Earth.” Odd said ruffling Jeremie’s hair playfully.

 

“Thank you, that sounds awesome Jeremie. I really appreciate it.”

 

“Of course.” He nodded to me “It’ll also function as a form of bodyguard and destroy XANA’s monsters. And once it’s developed enough it could possibly even destroy XANA completely.” He said excitedly. 

 

“That sounds like a hell of a lot of work Einstein. Are you sure you’ll be able to do all of that and still keep up with school?” Ulrich teased.

 

“Well now that I have Aelita here to help me I’m sure that it’ll be much easier than before.” Jeremie looked lovingly at Aelita.

 

“Anyway,” Yumi interrupted pushing her way to the front “we’re glad to hear that you’re doing okay. We really miss having you here” Everyone gave various responses to signal their agreement. 

 

Jeremie checked his watch then sighed “Curfew is in ten minutes guys, I think it’s time to wrap this up.”” He said “we’ll see you soon Anna.” Everyone said their goodbyes then signed off of the call.

 

The screen closed and I sat down again. The loneliness only grew, how long had I been stuck here? A few hours? A few days? It was hard to keep track. Eventually I drifted off into a fitful slumber.

 

_ The walls were hazy as everything came  into focus. I was in the waytower but it looked different. The coding on the walls was gone and the walls were a dull red. A black blob came into focus and started to pulse. I watched as it morphed into a dark figure, shrouded in darkness.  _

 

_ “Anna.” It whispered in a scratchy voice. _

 

_ I staggered back in surprise and bumped into the wall, unsure of what was going on. _

 

_ “Don’t be afraid for we know each other much better than you think, after all you belong to me now.” _

 

_ My breath hitched in my throat, “W-what? Who are you?!” _

 

_ The figure floated towards me and I could make out the silhouette of a man. “Why Anna, you jumped into the digital sea, did you not? Don’t think that I wouldn’t take advantage of such a situation. It was all too easy, you practically handed yourself to me.” he leered above me now “And for what? Because you couldn’t handle what life dished out for you?” he grabbed me by the throat and threw me to the ground. “You’re weak and pathetic. You’ll never be anything more than a lost little girl that means nothing to this world.” he sneered.  _

 

_ “So weak and yet so full of power and potential.” he circled around me like a wolf getting ready for the kill. “Too bad your pesky intellectual friend was able to save you before I got to you completely. It’s unfortunate really, I had big plans for you Anna. Very big plans.” He sighed and turned his back to me, pacing the floor of the tower. “They can’t save you, you know. Not completely.” He turned around and let out a hearty laugh and strode over to me. “I’ll always be here Anna.” He painted a shadowed finger at my heart “Right. Here. Try as you may you will never get rid of me.” He stabbed his finger through my chest with a maniac laugh then dissipated into smoke. _

 

I woke up gasping for breath and clutching my chest. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I couldn’t hold them back. I sat there and bawled for what felt like hours until my throat was scratchy and there were no more tears left in my eyes.

 

His words rang in my ears as I began to calm,  _ ‘You’re weak and pathetic. You’ll never be anything more than a lost little girl that means nothing to this world’  _ I wiped my face and stood up. 

 

“You’re wrong XANA. I will be something. I will make something out of my life.  **_I_ ** will- no.  **_We_ ** will defeat you.”

  
  



	21. Chapter 19: Marabounta

Several days passed until finally, Jeremie came back with a development. When he contacted me I was too confused by his technobabble to really understand what he was trying to say. I was now currently waiting for him to input some new program, I still wasn’t exactly sure what was happening.

“Anna to Einstein? Do you want to clue me in on exactly what you’re trying to do?”

“Last night as I was going through Franz Hopper’s notes I discovered an important multiagent system. It’s a computer application that follows the principles of an anthill. What happens is-” Jeremie was cut off by Odd and the others appearing.

“Oh no. Ms.Hertz already bored us to tears with that ant stuff, don’t you start now.” 

Jeremie glared at him. “Seriously, this time I might have found a way to weaken XANA and help protect Anna while she’s trapped in Lyoko.”

Jeremie continued to work on the program while the others talked to me about school and what I had missed.

“Hopefully we can get you back soon. Delmas is starting to get suspicious of why you’ve been visiting your family for so long.” Yumi said from in between Ulrich and Odd.

“Speaking of your family, your parents sent you a bunch of mail. I brought it with me so you could see it and we could reply and not make it look suspicious.” Aelita said holding up a few packages and envelopes.

“Oh, thank you, Aelita.What day is it anyway?” 

“October 18th. 12 days until Halloween.” Odd said excitedly.

I was silent for a moment then shook my head, “I hope I don’t miss it. Aelita, If you could leave the mail and stuff in my room I’d appreciate it. Thank you for gathering it for me.”

The conversation lulled, confusion and concern clearly marked my friend’s faces when I didn’t want to respond to it all right away. Before anyone could say anything, however, the supercomputer started to beep.

“Perfect! XANA is attacking! This is the optimal time to test out the new program.” He turned to the group “You guys head to the scanner room. I’ll launch the program.”

They all gave varying responses to Jeremie's request and headed to the scanner room. I looked around the small tower and sighed. I didn’t like keeping things from my friends, but it’s not like it really mattered. I needed to distract myself from my thoughts. 

“So Jeremie, what exactly does this program do?”

He sat back in his chair with a triumphant smile and looked at me, “Well it’s supposed to search for and destroy XANA monsters. So while the Marabounta is doing that everyone can focus on getting the tower deactivated.” Jeremie went back to typing and started the virtualization process for our friends.

I closed the screen in front of me and exited the tower into the forest sector. I listened to Jeremie's disembodied voice call out the virtualization process and looked to the sky for any indication of my fellow warriors.

“Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization.”

One by one they’re digital skeletons appeared followed by their skins and then their consciousness. The three of them dropped to the ground and landed gracefully on the virtual forest floor with Aelita following shortly after. 

“I’ll launch the program for the Marabounta.” 

“Jeremie, what if there’s a bug in the program and something goes wrong?” Aelita asked looking concerned.

“Impossible! Remember, Franz Hopper was a genius.” Aelita only shrugged in response. “Enemies coming in from the East. They appear to only be Bloks, so not much to deal with.”

We all turned to face the oncoming enemies and as soon as they had arrived they were taken care of and turned into data once more. 

“Alright! I launched the program, let me know when you see it.”

We all looked around for anything new in the Forest Sector. There were a few moments before I noticed a dark grey blob floating above the ground. 

“I think I found it,” I called out to my friends.

“A blob? Nice one Einstein.” sarcasm played on Odds words and I shook my head.

“Just give it a second.”

We all watched it for some time before it began to slowly spread around. It moved towards a few monsters that we hadn’t noticed before and covered them completely as they tried to fight back. I had to admit, it was not a pleasant sight watching the monsters try to fight back only to fail and be destroyed with a small yet harsh flash of light. 

“For once I kind of feel bad for XANA” Yumi shuddered at the sight.

Slowly the goop headed towards us. No one moved, as we were unsure of what to do. It began to circle Aelita and me. 

“Uh, Jeremie I think there’s a problem.” I pulled out my scythe and hacked away at the blobs. Ulrich helped Aelita and we took off. 

“Jeremie it’s trying to attack Anna and Aelita! I thought it only attacked XANA’s monsters!” Ulrich said putting his katana away.

“Huh? Impossible!”

“I hate to break it to you Einstein but it’s pretty possible!” I said looking back The Marabounta was growing rapidly and gaining on us.

“How is this possible?” I could sense the frustration in his voice. “The virus…” he whispered under his breath. “I forgot about the virus!” He shouted exasperated. “This is all my fault. I knew I should have checked more thoroughly for bugs or something. Anna. Aelita. The Marabounta thinks you two are part of XANA’s monsters.

“I thought you said there was nothing to worry about?!” Odd said running in time with me.

“I’ll stop the program.” the furious sound of keys clacking resounded around us. “Oh no! No no no!” Jeremie yelled.

“Whenever you’re ready Jeremie!” 

“I can’t stop the program! The Marabounta doesn’t want to die. It’s become autonomous! It will submerge anyone and anything in its path. It’s going to take over Lyoko!” 

We slowed to a stop and looked around the new area we found ourselves in. There was no sign of the Marabounta here so we all relaxed a little.

“Jeremie I think we lost your monster,” Yumi said looking around.

“Yeah but now were lost ourselves.” Odd sighed.

“Sorry guys, head due West.” 

“Got it.”

We took off. As we ran towards the tower the Marabounta began to reappear around us. It slowly crawled on top of the trees and consumed XANA’s monsters that had been around the tower. The defective program began to surround us again and we clumped together.

“The Marabounta go here first. The tower is unreachable.” Ulrich said unsheathing his katana and readying himself.

“Ah!” Yumi yelled pulling out her fan. The marabounta had begun to crawl up her legs and was moving rapidly over her. 

“Yumi!” I cried trying to help her.

“No! I’m fine! It’ll spread to you guys, go and deactivate the tower.” We all turned away as Yumi was consumed and was devirtualized. 

“Be careful XANA is sending a monster!” Jeremie warned as a Krab was materialized in front of Aelita. She covered her head in fear of being attacked by the monster. The Krab, however, bent its front legs and presented its shell to her. 

We all stared up at the monster. ‘What is going on?’

“XANA is helping us?” Ulrich said skeptically.

“If Lyoko gets taken over then XANA has nothing,” Jeremie spoke quietly, he seemed to be just as astonished as we were.

“Go on Aelita. I think we can trust it this time.” I encouraged.

Aelita climbed onto the shell of the virtual crustacean and wobbled a bit as it stood back to its normal height. It began walking quickly through the blobs of grey covering the forest floor. Three more Krabs appeared and allowed Ulrich, Odd, and I to climb atop them. Aelita’s slowly sunk lower until it reached the tower and threw her off. She landed heavily on the other krab and looked for somewhere else to move.

“I’ve located the epicenter of the Marabounta. If you can reach and destroy it then we may we able to stop it for good.” 

“Ulrich and I will go and hunt it down. Anna, you’ve got to help Aelita get to the tower.” Odd nodded to me then he and Ulrich bounded off in the other direction.

Another Krab materialized in front of me and I jumped onto its hard shell. I made my way to Aelita. We jumped onto a clear patch of grass and looked for another way to the tower. 

“They’re almost there girls, just hold on a little longer,” Jeremie said.

“Got it Jer,” I replied and watched as the goop spread.

Three Krabs and two Tarantulas materialized in front of us to slow down its movement toward us.

Aelita and I huddled closer together as it began to close in around us. We stood back to back, trying not to move in case we stepped in it.

“They got it!” Jeremie called out, I could practically see him pumping his fist in the air. 

The Marabounta stopped moving and slowly began to recede. I urged Aelita to the tower and smiled as she entered it.

I turned to the remaining monsters and watched as they bowed to me. 

“Too bad we will never work like this again,” I whispered and bowed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Hey...long time no see haha. Look I know what you're thinking, "A year, really?!" Yeah...I'm sorry. Last year I worked at a summer camp for the whole summer so I wasn't able to write and now my senior year has kicked my ass. But, here I am. I'm going to try and finish this story, even if it takes years to do. It's kind of crazy to think I started writing this 4 years ago... I was 14... I planned out so many chapters and I still have so many left. I can't wait to share them with you all. I'm working again this summer but I should be able to update somewhat regularly....hopefully. Thank you guys for sticking with my story, I really appreciate it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!


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